Social Norms And Double Standards

Our culture creates societal norms and double standards. Double standards (as they relate to gender) are standards we hold to only men or only women. As social creatures, to achieve acceptance we continually try to meet standard expectations set by our society. Trying to meet the expectations of others may lead us to fear being different or open the door to discrimination from peers. In this way, standards and double standards in society cause discrimination against people who deviate from normality.
One current societal expectation is how women, more often than men, are “Marked” by their clothing. The author of Document H uses Marked to highlight the fact that no matter what a woman wears, others will make assumptions about her character. …show more content…
Most people wanted me to adhere to the societal norm - men should have short hair. Guys tended to view my hair as girly, whereas girls would more often than not commend me for being unique. The fact that girls are socially allowed to cut their hair short like “guys” hair is what led to this phenomenon. Since girls were allowed to freely express themselves through their hairstyles, they supported my endeavor. But since men were “supposed” to wear short hair, other guys knocked down any deviation from what was normal. Allowing girls to express themselves through their hair and clothing choices while guys are denied that right is a negative double standard. Women can’t express themselves solely through their actions, and men are discouraged from trying to express themselves through their clothes.
The freedom of clothing choice I’ve mentioned creates a double standard for men and women wearing Marked clothes. I’ve observed the clothing of girls and boys at our high school, and clothing double standards definitely exist. Girls, with the freedom of clothing choice our society gives them, can wear whatever they want. Skirts, dresses, pants, jeans, sweats - they’re all perfectly valid. Guys, in contrast, can only wear what is considered ‘guy’s clothes’ - jeans, sweats, pants - but nothing frilly. No dresses …show more content…
John Adams writes to his wife, “We know better then to repeal our Masculine systems… they are little more than theory. We dare not exert our Power in its full Latitude. We are obliged to fair, and softly, and in practice you know we are subjects.” In essence, John Adams, one of the founding fathers, advocated standards that continued the subjugation of women. But while the systemic inequality of our society was prevalent and unjust, it probably wasn’t malevolent. In America, we have historically valued being a benevolent, just society, but we still have a ways to go before we are as just as we want to