Heteronormativity

Who Am I? A question that arose frequently during this semester. I am a senior at the University of West Georgia, 21 years old, a girlfriend, daughter, and an outgoing friend. These are the general descriptions I can say about myself. This semester I analyzed this question frequently to analyze my “inner self”. Analyzing my inner self was difficult for me because, I had difficulty expressing my emotions. To analyze my emotions, freedom, and inner self this essay will be autoethnographical.…

From the ancient Greek mythology of the “Judgment of Paris” to the selection of the May Day Queen in the United States, it is clear that the narrative of “beauty contests” amongst women is not a recent human construction; rather, its long history may in fact partially explain how we have come to normalize the judgment of female bodies. Nevertheless, the issue is even more problematic when we extend this practice to the bodies of extremely young girls. Three-year-old Paisley Dickey made headline…

Leading companies and industries use visual aids to sell products and ideas. One of the products that use catchy and colorful advertisements are toys. Toys have been a main part of every culture as they have been a part of our early history. The type of toys manufactured for the children reflects what the society views as acceptable. These toys are to help children develop skills (social or educational) and teaches them about sexuality, gender and violence. Toy manufactures play an important…

Social norms vary greatly between cultures and geographic locations. Norms pertaining to etiquette or ethics are always altering. What used to be considered a social norm a month ago may not the case in the present day. There are a variety of factors that affect social norms, such as media, time, and cultural differences, just to name a few. These factors are taken into consideration when looking at the controversial topic of nudity. Media specifically has modified the social norm of nudity for…

Essay 1 Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s essay “Well Behaved Women” is a reflection on how she believes her slogan “Well behaved women seldom make history” became so popular within a community of individuals, all of which believe the slogan relates to them. To utilize the meaning of this slogan, many companies, bloggers and artists have created media using the slogan, one of which will be discussed within this analysis of Ulrich’s viewpoint on the issues of her slogan. The image that will be discussed…

“The laws do not betray what a people are but rather what seems to them foreign, strange, uncanny, outlandish. The laws refer to the exceptions to the morality of mores, and the severest penalties are provided for what accords with the mores of a neighboring people” (What Laws Betray, pg 109). Laws and codes do not make people but people make laws and codes that are especially set up to go against the things and ideas that they believe to be strange or weird and go against their reason. They…

For hundreds years society has been sorting the human species into nice neat boxes. Boys are expected to be emotionally unavailable, play with monster trucks, and exude masculinity. Girls are expected to be hypersensitive, play with dolls, and embody femininity. These expectations associated with ones gender are referred to as gender roles. Gender roles are what leads to stereotyping the nurse as female and the surgeon as male. Gender roles are what formed the sexist perspective that women…

Although Tom and George have many differences, they are also a little bit alike. They are alike because of the way they treat the women they love, and the way they show violence. They are different in their jobs, how much money they earn, and where they live. They have very different lifestyles, but they can be really similar when it comes down to it. George Wilson is a sad character that gets a lot of sympathy, and lives in The Valley of Ashes. He really wants to make his wife happy and…

The Big Picture: Deviance Deviance is any behavior that violates cultural norms. What are norms you ask? Norms are guidelines or expectations for how we should behave in our day to day lives. Most members of society will accept social norms and expect others to do the same. Being expected to do something can put a lot of pressure on an individual. Our perception of behavior reflects a process of socialization that occurs over the course of our lives. We are expected to obey the laws so most…

Today being unique is abnormal to others and this is caused by oppression being the root of many conflicts in the world today. Oppression has been defined as allowing certain groups to assume a dominant power over other groups. Rules of oppression are built around what are understood to be “norms” in today’s society. A norm proclaims what is normal, acceptable, and desirable. The norm is something that is respected and supported in a society. William Shakespeare the author of Othello shares a…