Personal Narrative: Breaking A Social Norm

I quickly finished tying my shoe and hopped onto my purple mountain bike and we were off. Logan my brother who I love sometimes,Cassie My best friend, Easton Cassie’s brother,Sawyer Cassie’s brother, Mr. Wychers and I were going to ride our bikes through a trail off in the woods and go to Whistle stop and then cut through town and head to Houseman's. The sky was cloudy and the daylight was being blocked by a thick dark cloud, which looked a lot like a rain cloud.

One definition of abnormality comes from statistical infrequency. We typically define what is seen as ‘normal’ by referring to statistical values. For example, from statistical evidence, we can be informed of things such as the average shoe size of 11-year olds, the average age of a first-time mother, and so on. As we can define what is ‘normal’ through statistics, we can also define what is abnormal. For instance, it is seen as abnormal for a first-time mother to be over the age of 40 or under the age of 20.

The Twilight Zone episodes “Number 12 Looks Just Like You” and “Eye of the Beholder” emphasize conformity as a key element in the success of the modern-day societies. In detail, in “Number 12 Looks Just Like You” as adolescents turn into adults, they select a predisposed pattern from a category of people. Respectfully, in “Eye of the Beholder” Janet is forced to undergo procedures to reverse her natural beauty in order to appear ugly and disfigured as the rest of the populous appears. This message of conformity and a homogenous appearance goes against the present-day beliefs that individuality and personal expression bring a positive element of variance into our day to day life.

In society, there are many standards that people must uphold to. In western society, it is uncommon for men to have long hair or for women to have short hair. Naturally, people will be conscientious of their differences between other people and try to change them or cover them up, and often times people who do not follow the standard are looked down upon. This leads to people trying to fit into the groups around them almost thoughtlessly. However, when people conform without thinking, it can lead to dangerous consequences. Often times, mindless conformity leads to senseless violence that could have been avoided with just a little more thought.

The media portrays the average person as flawless, thin, tall, and beautiful. They advertise products that can help a person achieve what they call “perfection.” They slap photos all over the place, on billboards, magazines, and ads, showing us what a “real” person looks like. The media brainwashes us into believing that we need to meet their standards in order to achieve ultimate beauty and should we stray from the path they pave, we will not be considered beautiful. Our society places too much emphasis on our appearances, forcing many to undergo drastic changes to become “beautiful.” Many people begin to develop issues concerning their body and image. Teenagers, especially, feel the need to conform to society's view of the perfect body. They feel the need to have flawless skin, to be thin, to be tall, and to be perfect. They don't understand

In the essay, “The sociology of Leopard man”, by Logan Feys, he argues that individuality can be affected by the pressures that society puts on people. I agree with Feys opinion on this subject.

There are tons people everyday that are made fun of because either they dont look like everyone else, or they don 't act like everyone else. In the book A Raisin In The Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry, An African American family lives in the suburbs of Chicago pre civil rights movement trying to find a better life outside of their rundown apartment. In the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding Toula changes her appearance so she can go out with the guy she likes. When they see each other it was love at first sight, Ian and Toula later get married. In the book American Born Chinese written by Gene Luen Yang, Jin changes his appearance because he wanted to fit in, and get the girl everyone likes. Some people think they don 't fit into society, so they go and change themselves in order to fit in.

"You should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. Instead, it 's important for you to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages" Michelle Obama.

Societies throughout time have always struggled with outsiders. Humans easily notice differences and are quick to despise them, outcasting any person in whom they see these discrepancies. While the specific targeted characteristic may vary, this idea is ever persistent. In Jessica Brody’s novel Unforgotten, she highlights through angry, fearful diction and personification that people often look upon differences negatively, ultimately hurting those targeted.

Othering will be apart of life, no matter someone’s personality is like, or who they are. Othering is making someone feel different from their own “norm”, it’s different for everybody. Only because somebody 's normal, is someone else 's other. The short story/movie,” Harrison Bergeron,” has plenty of examples of othering.

Social norms are rules that have been ingrained in society and people for hundreds of years. These societal rules can be anything from not talking to strangers on the subway to wearing weather appropriate clothes in public. Yet, when these societal norms are broken, the observers, as well as the person who destroyed the norm, are affected. Societal norms play in large role in how a person conducts him or herself when interacting with others. When deciding what social interaction, I would break, I wanted to do something that would be easy for me to fully commit to without facing too much embarrassment. I chose to violate the social norm of using the appropriate utensils when eating. This social norm is taught to people at very young ages, usually

Ding! The elevator opened, I walked in, initially oblivious to my surroundings. A couple of seconds later when I looked up, I found three people turned to the wall with their backs to me. I was startled and was unsure of how to react. I was just thinking pondering upon what was going on in this elevator as I watched the elevator slowly go from the first floor to the fourth floor. After a while, I heard a chuckle or two and they turned around and reassured me that they were just doing an assignment. After that, I wanted to know if everyone would react the same way I would since it was a minor “norm violation.” No one ever said we couldn’t stand in the elevator with our backs

Social norms has widely held standards that people consciously use to make a judgement on a behaviour. If the behaviour violates the social norm it is usually classified as abnormal. An example of a behaviour that violates social norms is schizophrenics having a conversation with an imaginary voice. (Ann.M.Kring, 2007.)The limitations with this definition is that social 'norms' vary across different cultures and ethnic groups meaning that what deviates from ones social norm does not deviate anothers. An example of this is men of the Wodaabe tribe use elaborate makeup and costumes to attract women. Another limitation of the social norm theory is that social norms changes regularly. An example of this is women would not have been allowed to work 100 years ago. Last year 62% of women in Britain were employed, this shows how social norms have changed. (Duggan,

“If I were a tree among trees, a cat among animals, this life would have a meaning, or rather this problem would not arise, for I should belong to this world.” -Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus

The purpose of this paper is to inform the reader of social normalities and prejudice in society. Social normalities can be described, measured, and can influence the expression of prejudice. People adhere firmly to social norms when expression prejudice and the expression of hostility depends on norms. The data can be predicted through many theories and common sense. Individual tolerance often represents group tolerance due to the different norms in that group. Using norms to represent prejudice is important because it can highlight the struggle to incorporate things into an individual 's nature. The paper was confusing to read and did not support the researcher 's topic.