Does this include things like compulsive gambling? (Is addictive behavior considered deviant?)

It depends on the addictive behavior. Strictly speaking, gambling is sanctioned in our society and is not necessarily considered deviant by the dominant culture, since it has become a formal institution. Addiction to controlled substances, however, would be considered deviant.

Deviant behavior, though, can include simple things like dying your hair wild colors or collecting tattoos, although it gets tricky with topics like that because those things are relatively common occurrences in youth culture. Elderly persons doing those things would certainly be considered deviant.

That's true! And they've been on TV, so it might not be too hard to find good information to reference.

Ooh, interesting one. Nature's norms as deviance. I like it. ^*^

Phrased broadly like that, it's actually fairly commonplace amongst any age group, although elderly people are more likely to use natural tones. I could use it discuss the age variation of societal deviance, though; how it's far less deviant amongst youth culture than amongst the elderly.

It's increasingly common for people to dye their hair colors that human biochemistry does not normally produce. That doesn't always mean bright greens and purples, but odd shades of red, blond, or brown that aren't natural. I could specify the use of colors far removed from the natural spectrum but, more importantly, I think a conversation about the fact that such alterations are more the norm in youth culture and less so in the overarching dominant culture, particularly amongst the elderly, would be interesting.

I don't have statistics in front of me, of course, but I do believe that hair dying is largely still a prominently feminine element of youth culture. For middle-aged persons, however, it's actually increasingly common for men, although that's general hair dying and not so much unnatural color use. At any rate, particularly with this teacher, those kinds of specifics are really important. He deducts points if we aren't specific enough.

Ooh! Nonstandard gender identities. I like that one.

Age difference in relationships is good, though I'm less offhand familiar with that. Heck, in our culture these days, age itself sometimes seems to be considered a form of deviance.

haha.. well, I could mention it. ^*^ Since this is an online class and the discussion assignment is literally just to post a message to the BBS, I wouldn't be doing much more than that. I am leaning more towards gender issues currently.