Throughout the history of mankind there has been many uniquely different ideologies. Of these people, Michel de Montaigne and Andrew Martinez share one of them. Both Montaigne and Martinez would agree that customs and traditions can have a positive or negative factor. Montaigne, a famous 16th century writer, shares his belief in “Of the Custom of Wearing Clothes.” His main question for the duration of the reading is why humans wear clothes. Montaigne argues that Western man has been to dependent of their creations. The support for this argument is clearly stated, “Now, all other creatures being sufficiently furnished with all things necessary for the support of their being.” (Montaigne p-1) In other words, Montaigne displays the dependence
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He would strip and walk down the highway. Then the idea grew, where he started walking in public in the nude. This series of events were questioned multiple times, as shown in his interview. But these questions derived from Martinez challenging social conventions. Social conventions are unwritten rules or procedures that act as a guide to represent the norms or customs of society. During the interview, Jane Smith brings up the idea of social conventions and how they are logical, she asks Martinez how he feels about conventions. His response, while mocking Smith, is “Cause that’s the way it is, dude!” (Smith p-4). He responds in this fashion because whenever a person brings up social conventions, the reason for following them is unknown. Nearly everyone in human society follows the standard of wearing clothes simply because that is the way it is. Social conventions represent both positives and negatives. Positively, they unify society and allow society to move fluidly. On the negative side, they as just a thing that humans do daily and it does not provide people an opportunity to express their beliefs. Social conventions are not commonly thought about, but when a person, like Martinez, challenges them, it brings up the question of why people follow these conventions in the first place. During Martinez’ nudist campaign, he makes personal choices about how to and when to follow these social conventions. These choices represent the freedom of …show more content…
Throughout the interview, he specifically shows examples portraying these factors. Since Martinez had a free mind and did what he believed in, he was positively affected. This was the case primarily because he was allowed to express himself. His belief was that he did not like clothes. Martinez states, “So if you take off your clothes, there’s nothing they can label you with? You’re just there? And you’re just human? And so in a sense that’s a power: the power of not being labeled.” (Smith p-23). This power he felt was the power of freedom. Also, Martinez never clearly stated his reasoning behind going nude. He just stated minor claims that had little significance alone. Martinez’ ability to make a personal choice of avoiding society norms with no reason proves his carefree domineer. Unlike the positive factors, Martinez faced negative factors from these social conventions. Jane Smith asked Martinez “What do you do about stores or restaurants that say something like, ‘no shirt, no shoes, no service’?” (Smith p-12). His response is “I’d probably just put on clothes. Because at a certain point I’ve just got to live my life.” (Smith p-13). This clearly displays that Martinez is well aware of social conventions he is willing to go against his beliefs when social conventions become written rules. This negativity is also evident when Martinez is kicked out of U.C. Berkeley
He would strip and walk down the highway. Then the idea grew, where he started walking in public in the nude. This series of events were questioned multiple times, as shown in his interview. But these questions derived from Martinez challenging social conventions. Social conventions are unwritten rules or procedures that act as a guide to represent the norms or customs of society. During the interview, Jane Smith brings up the idea of social conventions and how they are logical, she asks Martinez how he feels about conventions. His response, while mocking Smith, is “Cause that’s the way it is, dude!” (Smith p-4). He responds in this fashion because whenever a person brings up social conventions, the reason for following them is unknown. Nearly everyone in human society follows the standard of wearing clothes simply because that is the way it is. Social conventions represent both positives and negatives. Positively, they unify society and allow society to move fluidly. On the negative side, they as just a thing that humans do daily and it does not provide people an opportunity to express their beliefs. Social conventions are not commonly thought about, but when a person, like Martinez, challenges them, it brings up the question of why people follow these conventions in the first place. During Martinez’ nudist campaign, he makes personal choices about how to and when to follow these social conventions. These choices represent the freedom of …show more content…
Throughout the interview, he specifically shows examples portraying these factors. Since Martinez had a free mind and did what he believed in, he was positively affected. This was the case primarily because he was allowed to express himself. His belief was that he did not like clothes. Martinez states, “So if you take off your clothes, there’s nothing they can label you with? You’re just there? And you’re just human? And so in a sense that’s a power: the power of not being labeled.” (Smith p-23). This power he felt was the power of freedom. Also, Martinez never clearly stated his reasoning behind going nude. He just stated minor claims that had little significance alone. Martinez’ ability to make a personal choice of avoiding society norms with no reason proves his carefree domineer. Unlike the positive factors, Martinez faced negative factors from these social conventions. Jane Smith asked Martinez “What do you do about stores or restaurants that say something like, ‘no shirt, no shoes, no service’?” (Smith p-12). His response is “I’d probably just put on clothes. Because at a certain point I’ve just got to live my life.” (Smith p-13). This clearly displays that Martinez is well aware of social conventions he is willing to go against his beliefs when social conventions become written rules. This negativity is also evident when Martinez is kicked out of U.C. Berkeley