Essay On Breaking Social Norms

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A society is comprised of individuals that constitute a set of normative rules that serve as a decree to accept some individuals, while rejecting others as part of that same society. Breaking a social norm is almost as if one is rebelling and/or refuting against the rules set by the members of the society (Becker 1982). Or in some instance, unfortunately more common than it may appear, individuals, like international immigrants or residents of a different community, simply lack the knowledge of the social norms that are accepted in the particular society, like abstaining from wearing certain clothes, making direct eye contact with the person one is conversing with, maintaining an appropriate distance with one when in an elevator, or even as simply as saying “please” when one commits a virtuous deed. The social norm I broke this past week was entering a public place without shaving my legs. …show more content…
I went swimming at the Athletic Student Fitness Center with a few close friends; these are the friends I consider my “significant others” (Johnson 2010) with respect to their influence on my everyday life. In the society we live in today, a girl is habitually expected to shave her legs, especially in a college-like atmosphere, where peer relations are dominating (Adler and Adler 1998). This is regardless of her relationship status, cultural and socio-economic background, the amount of close connections she has, her height, her weight, etc.; a wildly accepted notion that if she acquires a female body, her legs must be smooth at all times. If she does not abide by these rules, she is jeopardizing the image that she retains of her “self”, and the image that others retain of her. And there I was, in my white bathing suit, which was embellished with exquisite shapes and fine details. These fine details were sure to capture the attention of any onlooker. This trip to the pool was similar to all the other trips, except now my legs were untouched, unpurified, and uncleansed. Going in, I thought everyone there would be so busy with their own business, that they would not scrutinize the condition of my legs. As I walked around the parameters of poolside, I noticed two familiar female students whisper to each other, while their male friend stood perplexed. I knew those girls were subtly talking about me. They sporadically giggled and subtly tried to deviate their gaze from my legs as I passed them to the other end of the pool. I was most enthralled not by the reaction of the girls, but the reaction of the male friend. He did not seem to exhibit any form of revulsion or animosity towards me just for the sole purpose of my unshaven legs, whereas the girls made it conspicuous that my unshaven legs were a something to surreptitiously gossip about. I did at first feel a little uncomfortable as I heard those girls giggle, but soon realized that I had a motive behind what I was doing. It was the perception of this “self” image that I displayed that caused the girls to converse about me. This “self”, according to Johnson (2014) is a fabricated idea that is made real. In another situation, I might have blamed myself for not shaving and I would have humbly accepted the humiliation and the constant belittling as a result of my own fault, for if my legs were shaved, those girls would not have cared because I would have abided the expectations of the norm in the society. What I also noticed was that the members of my own gender that tantalized me, even though they were the ones that could empathize or relate to my situation. As individuals, being accepted in a society means assimilating to a set of rules and presenting an appropriate cultural attitudes (Johnson 2014). We are daily indoctrinated and influenced by consumer culture, especially through media, and look to the elitist, agent groups as our models who possess the most power with regards to status, voice, and recognition. Therefore, in order to earn success, we must acclimate and work in conjunction with their essentialities and their ideals of the desirable. For example, how many women have we seen in movies, magazines, videos, with leg hair? In this hegemonic

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