The way in which people are controlled within airports can be linked to Panopticism. This is because everyone within an airport feels that they are un-obviously being observed at any time or at all times, through signage, cctv and the security bodies that patrol the airports. This is generally for the benefit of the community within an airport, but it leads to increased anxiety within people.
There are a lot of security details on show within airports, whether it be; armed policemen, scanners for both yourself and your luggage or signs up saying 'have you packed your luggage?' or 'don't leave your bags unattended'. All these mean to suppress the idea of a malevolent act. You begin to self regulate in order to conform to what you perceive as a 'normal' person in securities eyes.
The security systems that are put in place, for example the body scanners you have to walk through, are there to protect you but also humiliate you at the same time. The system is similar to 'The Pillory'. People walk through the gates and if the alarm is triggered they are pulled to one side and subjected to a body scan by armed policemen, viewers find this comical but it also instills in them that they do not want to be caught out and ridiculed by their fellow viewers. This produces a placid body of people that go out of their way to prevent the alarms being triggered and thus being humiliated.
By instilling this constant fear of being caught forces people to control their behavior, making them self regulate. What also happens in airports is the general public within the community begin to survey the other people. Judging them and keeping an eye on them. Again increasing the anxiety of people watched, now not only by security but by your fellow travelers.
Visual reminders such as signage around airports and constant voice overs saying 'do not leave you're luggage unattended or it will be incinerated' or 'if something looks suspicious please alert the nearest member of staff', are constantly forcing people to aware of themselves and other people around them each leading to regulating one another. By reminding people of the consequences of acting suspicious or 'not normal', in turn prevents people from acting freely and without thought.
Due to all of this it makes people within airports anxious and fearful of the consequences should they step out of line a little bit, making them the perfect docile body. They become completely subservient and unquestioning in the authority the airport has instilled in them from the moment they walked through the doors.
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