Norm of an ideal

homosexual behaviours and identities. As, “reflection on dirt involves reflection on the relation of order to disorder, being to non-being, form to formlessness, life to death” (Douglas, 1990: 5). Pollution powers can be defined as powers that adhere to ideals which ‘punish a symbolic breaking of that which should be joined or joining of that, which should be separate’ (Douglas in Butler, 2007: 374). It follows from the notion that pollution is a form of danger that is not likely to occur except…

in an essay from 2001, “Scheherazade Goes West” by Fetma Mernissi regarding the clothing of modern Western culture. These pieces were written centuries apart and in different circumstances, and yet they both compare Western society to the Eastern ideal of a harem and both do so through the vehicle of Western clothing. The Western world is a breeding ground for hidden harems. Jane Eyre, is a vivacious woman who, after years of mistreatment finds happiness in her love for her “master”, Edward…

The three definitions of abnormality are; deviation from social norms, failure to function adequately, deviation from ideal mental health. Social ‘norms’ are unwritten rules created and implemented by a certain social group to guide the behavior of those who belong to that group. And therefore, breaking these rules or ‘norms’ may be considered abnormal behavior and individuals may be socially out casted for doing so. Social norms are behavioral patterns that are native to a specific social…

completing. To “make the familiar strange” is to question the established norms in society and assess its value and connection to the self. Although a multitude of students enroll into college each semester, many do not acknowledge or assess the true purpose of their undergraduate education. Students across the country do not inquire the true purpose or value of higher education, ultimately contributing to the bandwagon ideal of college. Thus, to prevent students from joining the numerous others…

and Heart of Darkness express how different societies expect certain traits from an individual, and how an individual expresses him or herself differently based on society customs. Every society expects an individual to behave a certain way: these ideal behaviors differ from society to society. The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass expresses the standards…

This is exemplified through Manders’ misconstrued perception of the ideal family structure. This is displayed through Oswald’s and Manders’ conflicting views upon the acceptance of unmarried couples who live under the same roof, as demonstrated through the subtext of this scene displaying their disagreement. In contrast to Manders, Oswald despises the conventional ideals of the Church and supports these “irregular unions” (Ibsen 87) as he acknowledges that thosemany people…

Foucauldian tradition. Foucault’s idea that discourse is “controlled, selected, organized” (Foucault, 1996) in the sense that what comes to be accepted as truth is based on a deliberate inclusion and exclusion of information, which in turn forms social norms. Butler applies this concept to gender. How we act in certain situations depends on the social constructs that surround us (discourse), and “our acting of our role playing is crucial to the gender that we are” (Butler, 1998) e.g. Men acting…

considered outsiders. The idea that outsiders do not follow the conventional rules of social behavior that are set in place by a society are prominent in Toni Morrison’s Sula and Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day. Morrison looks at an individual who understand the norms but decides to go against it. Naylor predominantly examines the effects of one person against an entire group when they ignore the history of the community, and the concept of magic. Unlike Naylor, Morrison delves deeper into the outsider…

For my family to have a set ideal culture is crazy, because there are so many smaller groups that have different values and norms that are ideal to them. Culture gives everyone a different meaning of life that is constantly changing. My goal is to let my family see that their culture is different and normal to them, and we might be the…

but a bi-polar spectrum that has stayed consistent for over 100 years, and the social pressure is to identify with one party or the other. Mill argues that when social pressure is upheld strongly by a particular society, those who try to shift the norm can be seen as “wild” or…