ABSTRACT
During the first interview, I asked individuals if they felt that they were in the mainstream (which I define presently). I asked children if they felt they were pretty similar to other kids. Of the 120 nonviewing individuals who responded, 54% (n=65) said that they were different from others who they knew (e.g., “Our families think we’re so strange. So no, not mainstream.”). Only half of these (n=33) said that this difference was directly due to not having television. Some 30% of all nonviewers said that they were both different from and similar to others (e.g., “In some ways I’m non-mainstream and in some ways I’m pretty conventional.”). The remaining 16% said they were not different in any real or meaningful way (e.g., “Maybe the reason people are surprised [that we don’t have television] is because we’re so regular.”) However, a large majority (84%) perceived themselves to be at least somewhat unusual, and not having television was at least one reason for that.
