Despite possessing the characteristics of the dominant norm in society (as a white and male), Genet is far from being a subject of society. In ‘The Thief’s Journal’, society is divided into two primary categories; the abject and non-abject. Genet openly accepts his status as an “abject” of society; he displays a strange affection for the grotesque and disgusting which he also describes in lucid details. The “gaze” of society pressurizes societal norms and conventions into Genet. However, he takes great delight in poverty and revels in his own filth; he warmly embraces what society shuns such as the beggars and homosexual.
Also, during his era of the 1930s where society is still mostly conservative, Genet’s homosexuality would probably be difficult for others to accept. Thus, clearly deviating away from society’s expectations and standards, Genet builds a strong identity as an “abject” and seemingly takes pride in it. He views what we would see repulsive as beautiful, from “globs of spit” to describing penises as one would an art piece. He challenges society’s perception of aesthetics and beauty with his unorthodox obsession with the revolting. For example, he describes how “live were precious” (Pg 26), how they “crushed them without disgust and without hatred”, and after that instead of disposing of their bodies “let them fall back into our (their) clothes”. This sort of behavior is a good example of what society greatly frowns upon and would not condone, yet Genet does not see anything wrong with it. An “abject”, to Genet, is not sub-human; it is instead something outside of human and what he identifies with.