The Social Construction Of Augustana College Essay

Augustana College was a very different place back in the mid-1900s. It was a more heteronormative culture than it is today. A heteronormative culture is a “culture in which heterosexuality is accepted as the normal, taken-for-granted mode of sexual expression” (Newman 130). There were stricter rules set in place for the different gender roles and more formalities involved in society. The expectations for the different gender roles have changed over the years to be what it is today. There were expectations placed on the women at that time period and they were treated differently. Overall the students had different expectations put on them and lived their life in a more conservative way. By looking at the student handbook from the 1946-1947 school years, someone could see how the social construction was different than it is today. People overall were given a stricter set of rules when it came to going to campus. Receiving formal permission for something was a social norm back then. If they wanted to stay out passed the designated time for them to be in their dorms they had to get permission from the people in charge (Student Handbook 18). It shows how college students were given less responsibility for over their life in general. Adults seemed to believe that the students couldn’t make well thought out decisions on their own. It was a norm at the time for the faculty to look after the students in a sort of parental way. It seemed to be where the home life was a continued at…