Social Conformity In American Culture

Classism is a major issue that plagues American society. Classism separates groups by their economic status in society. America is perceived to be a middle class society, however in reality the middle class does not hold majority of the nation’s wealth. Most of the nation’s wealth is held by 1% of the population in America which consists of 34% of the nation’s wealth, meanwhile “the richest 20% of Americans hold nearly 85% of the total household wealth in the country” (Adams et al, 2013, p. 151). American citizens that are a part of the upper class are privilege because they have access to majority of the resources. They are not shut out from opportunities like the middle and lower class. The class that an individual is in affects their chance

Janie finds out that her second attempt to marriage does not give what she desires, and it is only in her “condemned” marriage that Janie finally achieves her true love and happiness. After marrying Jody, Janie was deceived into thinking she was living a high-class life, but in reality was confined even more in this marriage than her last one. Janie is not allowed to participate in any town events that are ruled as un-lady like by Jody. On the outside, Janie is restricted to the general store or the house, but in those times she would constantly question why she was not able to behave like a man. It is only when Janie marries Tea Cake, a man younger than her, that she achieves her quest of finding true love and subsequently her happiness. Regardless of society’s views of their union, Janie denies all their criticism and lives happily. After trials and errors on two marriages, Janie finally reveals to the reader that the only way to achieve what one wants is to leave all of society’s norms and pursue what he or she wants. If she were to fill her roles as a woman she would not have married the third time and would have lived with how her life currently was.

According to Eric Lott (Love and Theft: The Racial Unconscious of Blackface Minstrels), blackface both in minstrel show and later in movies “spread misconceptions and stereotypes, and was used as a tool to define what constituted ‘blackness’”. One of the impact of The Birth of a Nation was the revival of the Ku Klux Klan. Those stereotypes were composed of a negative portrayal of African-Americans, represented as “idiotic, classless, child-like, unsophisticated, ignorant, violent, sexually aggressive, depraved and morally bankrupt characters” (The impact of negative stereotypes and representations of African-American in the media and African-American incarceration, by Tamara Thérèse Johson) and archetypes popular in the days of slavery and of the minstrel show became even more popular with the new medium of cinema that spread those visions to a larger audience (beginning right in the early 1900's).

When I reached America, I started to remember my childhood. I was the youngest of 4 children. I had a sister and two brothers. We were all crammed into a small hut. We all slept on one blanket on the floors made of cow poop. The roof was not very good either. It was made of palm leaves and when it rained, water dripped into the hut. Our house was only lit by a candle light. My mother always fed the other children who were just like me. They were poor and hungry. She is the most generous person I have ever met. My father has always motivated me to be the best. I was the best in the college I attended. I was the first in the rankings and everyone praised me. I thought that the Americans were better educated and smarter than me. I was not very confident

Majorities influence their members to conform by using peer pressure. Bearing 100% of the responsibility without a single ally is too much for one person to bear without a conviction of purpose (Forsyth, 2009). In these situations, individuals will naturally go along with whatever the majority favors in order to avoid looking foolish or stupid. To combat the majority influence, an individual must gain allies to their ideas and decisions (Forsyth, 2009). Even with only one other person as an ally, the pressure to conform from the majority upon the individual weakens. As more allies are recruited to join the minority, the power of the majority also weakens. In general, conformists display common characteristics, and in specific circumstances, many people will succumb to the pressure from a majority as well (Forsyth, 2009). For example, individuals with low self-esteem or who are introverted are more likely to conform. If there is a low level of anonymity or a high level of cohesion, conformity among the individuals increases (Forsyth, 2009). For many, being in the majority is more rewarding than the minority since they usually have control over

What is otherness? In the context of readings like Mark Greene’s How America’s Culture of Shame is a Killer for Young Boys and Barbara Mellix’s From the Outside, in, otherness marks the difference in gender, race, and social class. The insiders are those that are in power politically, socially and religiously. Likewise, it implies there are those without representation, without power. Whether you are part or outside the groups, they create a sense of unity and community. Although a community is positive, groups can also lead expectations, profiling and a sense of entitlement to the over-represented group.

The collision of cultures dictates how well a country is able to preserve and provide for a multitude of people that require a delicate balance. The American culture is a prime example of diversity on one side, and the miss handling of diversity on the other side. Very much like that of the Persians, who during their re-stabilization and the implementation on how best to enforce stability within their country’s existing culture was by embracing “the power of customs” while being aware of the dangers associated with over-sharing, in hopes of cutting off the “instability of human happiness and fortune” in an effort to provide the “power of freedom” for anyone to immigrate to the United States. Upon all the challenges on this new nation, that

In today’s society, relationships are the key components of a healthy community. Families with maternal and paternal figures not only have a positive connotation, but they are also highly regarded in the eyes of the general public. Although this is a social norm within modern times, the civilization within Brave New World has a vastly different perspective on relationships. Within this society, relationships are not only looked down upon but also seen as repulsive and vulgar. They believe that everyone belongs to everyone, and that everyone should have whoever they choose. Sexual promiscuity is strongly encouraged and seen as a social norm, which is relatively similar to today’s society’s view of relationships (Huxley 32).

If we take a look at the different cultures in the world, we will see that the idea of what is ethically acceptable is vastly different. When the United Nations signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they had attempted to provide the world with a guideline of how we should ethically treat people. In many cases this declaration did not succeed and different cultures have their own ethical guidelines which go against this declaration. These culture specific ethics are defined as cultural relativism (Brusseau, 2012). Cultural relativism is the belief that ethics are not the result of universal reason; they are solely based on the individual cultures history (Brusseau, 2012).

When discussing human nature, we often debate whether humans are inherently good or evil. Yet what we don’t consider is if human nature exists at all. When asked about what human nature is, many of us would cite different sets of characteristics that vary depending on our upbringing, environment and culture. There are some concepts, such as rationality, ability or predisposition to use language, formation of complex social structures and self-consciousness that pop up again and again, but are these ‘universals’ enough to be used to define the entire population of Homo sapiens? And are these characteristics unique enough, that when used to characterize the human population, no other close evolutionary relatives will come to be defined as human

Are choices, actions, and thoughts influenced by rules or reasons? Is our freedom based on conformity or individuality?In society there is individuality and there is conformity. These two aspects are considered as two sides of the same coin in which one cannot be without the other. These contradictions are what makes society function and develop. It drives the people to accept and think more critically about life and how complex it is because life is never really just black and white it is much morethan that, it is complex and is much more bigger than what we see it to be. Individuality in society is defined as the uniqueness of peoplethat differentiates them from others. This uniqueness allows people to constantly develop and learn new things. Take for example a boy who is very curious in nature, his curiosity could lead to questions developing in his mind that leads to the finding of answers to those questions and ultimately finding an answer that could renew or alter other people’s perspectives. Individuality influences us to make our own choices by how we feel and by who we are in nature. It drives us to make choices based on what we find interesting, curious, exciting, anything that peaks our personality and views. A person’s reasoning, emotions, and character can greatly affect his behavior as well as others around him.

On a broad scale social structures are systems in place with smaller institutions that hold similar relationship and social patterns. Family is one of the five main important institutions. Family fits into social structures because family groups have been recorded through time, have the same social patterns, and it then

Fashion can provide roles and comfortability for each gender. Each gender has specific qualities and social norms to them that are taught from a young age. During early civilization there wasn’t much of a difference in dress between men and women. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that a difference

In today’s society, following trends and hashtags are our main focuses. Whatever we see on T.V or read in magazines, we tend to copy or mimic it in our everyday lives. There are many conflicting things that America promotes. Advertisements promote skinny women wearing lots of makeup, and many movies

Ethnocentrism is judging another culture solely by the values and standards of one’s own culture. Individuals who are ethnocentric judge other groups in relation to their own ethnic group or culture. I think The United States likes to refer to themselves as the “big mixing pot” of cultures. I would agree, we do have a wide range of different cultures, but that does not mean that we do not “evaluate and judge other cultures based on how they compare to our own cultural norms.” I think us as Americans feel this way, because we are too scared to change what we have learned and known since birth. Most people in our society think of anything different than them, as weird or unusual. They do not want to even learn about the other cultures out there, because of the fact that they are different. In fact, I think most Americans are just ignorant and uneducated. Although, most of us view the Hispanic culture as “dirty” or “no good,” they jump at the first chance they get to eat their food.