G-String Social Norms

“Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They do not don’t belong no place” (Steinbeck 13). The society in Of Mice and Men is on a smaller and simpler level but has the same principles: Work hard which shows (functionality), stay in line which shows (strict conformity), and keep your head down which shows the (intolerance for the unique). That is all society expects from the population. There are no laws or “Amendments” to enforce these expectations. Instead society controls the population through peer pressure and desire to conform. If someone were to stand out as an individual they would be punished in the form of examination, judgement, and exposement to others who will also examine and judge the individual. This is seen as a terrifying process to the individual and therefore avoided by conforming. “ I don’t know why. Maybe ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other” (35). Individuals fear others will see something about them themselves that makes them different. And to be different means to stand out, which results in society taking notice. When society takes notice of that individual it will begin the process of: examination, judgement, and exposement. The reason the ranchers fear each other can be a simple primal fear of physical pain. But on a larger deeper level it is a fear of judgment and being found lacking, or simply different. The society found in Harrison Bergeron is similar to that of Of Mice and Men in the representation of society being focused around strict conformity, intolerance for the unique, and functionality. The society of Harrison Bergeron is different from Of Mice and Men because of the militant portrayal of society. Whereas Of Mice and Men shows society in a more traditional

After this experiment, I learned that it is frightening to go against the unspoken rules of society. It is uncomfortable to participate in deviant behavior, especially when you are cognizant of how others are viewing you. Conducting this norm violation taught me that it is much easier to conform. Deviance can be functional to society, as the functional theories of deviance hold, and deviance can also be the cause of labeling and stigmatizing others, as some symbolic theories of deviance hold. In general, it can be agreed that no one wants to be the person committing the deviance because it will be accompanied by criticism. Anyone who breaks society’s norms is a very brave individual. For certain rules in today’s society, we need more courageous people who will challenge the norms. However, as far as staying quiet in the library goes, I think that rule can

The one in which appears similar to today's society. Everyone thought Equality was cursed, but many people think and sometimes act the exact same way that Equality acted throughout the novel. When faced with being outcasted, people tend to be depressed. But, Equality persevered and was able to do great things for the better of his fellow man, even when they treated him like he was nothing but a peasant; a street sweeper. Just because society treats others who do not follow their trends like people who are weird and outdated does not mean that they can make a difference. It is because of innovators like Equality that the world even has a society to begin

Individuals and society often disagree over morals and values, and the resulting conflicts arise in a vast range of ways. One way society conflicts with individuals is when society tries to restrict what people say, as seen in James Sterngold’s article “Censorship in the Age of Anything Goes”. Other times, individuals will be too afraid to speak out against society for fear of having society turn against them, as seen in Arthur Miller’s allegorical play, The Crucible. On the other hand, when individuals do defy society, there can be positive results, as seen in J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye. As such, when the beliefs of individuals and society come into conflict, the individuals can either let the controlling society forcefully

In the story, Harrison Bergeron, one learns that the author, Kurt Vonnegut, does not like the way society is. He does not like how people judge one another because one is not as attractive, or smarter, or funnier. He

Every society has a ‘social norm’ that everyone is expected to follow. Whether a person is a female who is expected to cook and clean for their husband while he relaxes from a hard day of work. Society believe that it is okay for a man to sleep around while it is a horrible thing for a lady to do. If a person does not follow these unwritten rules they may be shunned by people all around them, but conforming to these ‘social norms’ may mean suppressing themselves in order to be accepted. In The Bell Jar, Plath shows that if a person is to be normal they must suppress their true selves; Plath demonstrates this by showing how Esther conforms herself to act socially acceptable when she is with Marco and Irwin.

In the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates and the novel, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley unique gender/sexual roles and disobedient actions portray through the main characters’ to defy the cultural status quo. Irony, juxtapositions, and foreshadowing are being used in each piece of literature to help the reader comprehend and compare what the author is saying about the characters and their motives now and in the near future. Connie, in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” can compare to Bernard and John in Brave New World, because all are ignoring the rules, whether it is society for Bernard and John or her friends’ parents for Connie. Each character wants to be with the opposite sex and experience life, even if they are being told otherwise. The authors each make these protagonist main characters appealing to the reader because we feel as if we can connect to them and perceive their desire to oppose what the rules are and how they want to be divergent from what their controlling forces are telling them to do, whether it is parents or society.

The first few pages had me wonder why those rules were placed upon people. Why was being different a bad thing, did it make people superior than others? In the first paragraph it says, “IT IS A SIN TO WRITE THIS. It is a sin to think words no other think and to put down upon a paper no others to see. It is base and evil” (Rand 17). The narrator explains that no one has the right to write with Council of Vocations telling them to do so. They had many limitations. The main character, Equality 7-2521, does not quite fit in like everyone else. He is tall and he tells us that it is evil. It is a sin to be different from the others. He tries to fit in but it does not work. Everyone must be the same. He slowly begins to not follow

Social norms are apart of every society in some way, shape, or form. Issues occur off these social norms when there are outcasters who don’t exactly fit in with society's expectations. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout was pressured by many relatives and neighbors to “act like a girl”. Accept, Scout wants to be her own person. She wants to play in the dirt and have fun. Although, one particular person keeps putting her down, and that is Auntie Alexandra. Alexandra tries to play a female role for Scout and tells Scout how she is suppose to act. Scout however is very similar to Juliet capulet in this way. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet was pressured by her mother to be more like other girls and to get married. Scout and Juliet,

Literature is the window to realizing the negatives of society and how destructive certain norms can be. Readers are brought into a completely different story than their own, but by using similar issues in today’s world, the readers can actually learn from the story and its overall message. All writers write for a purpose, whether it’s for a new meaning to life, to live a different life than our own, or to impact others on an emotional level by teaching them to see the importance of the little things. As a reader, you search for pieces of literature that interest you whether you find the story like your own, or wish you lived the life in the story. By using issues in today’s within their works, authors are able to grab the reader's attention long enough for them to get across what they wanted to get across. Often in many works of literature, writers use societal issues as their basis for the work’s themes and symbols. By doing so, this allows the reader to question the morality behind social norms and how impactful certain ideals can be in people’s lives.

     Ernest Hemmingway once described a novel by Mark Twain as, “…it is the ‘one book’ from which ‘all modern American literature’ came from” (Railton). This story of fiction, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a remarkable story about a young boy growing up in a society that influences and pressures people into doing the so-called “right thing.” It is not very difficult to witness the parallels between the society Huck has grown up in and the society that influences the choices of people living today. However, what is it that gives society the power to draw guidelines to define the norms, trends, and what is morally right and wrong in life? Is it always the best choice to listen

Moral behaviors, including taboos that are even are priority conflict areas in the modern world are highlighted in Margaret Atwood’s ‘created’ society. For example Gilead behaves in ways to increase tensions in the stories. Readers are therefore captivated by drawing them in to see the morals and the ethical values that they hold

Society is ever changing and evolving, the interactions between family members and those in a person’s community can change from day to day. Shirley Jackson and Ernest Hemingway explore society and the interaction of people within a society to show the true nature of people. The authors both use short yet intense diction which places the reader within the story. The twists within the plot lines of both essays show the reader life is always unexpected and that although one may believe they know the conclusion they are blindsided by the truth. The two writers have very similar approaches throughout the story hiding the true reasoning behind the story until the finale, yet the way the compose their essays and the way in which societies within those essays act, both writers display how

Society tries to place many rules upon an individual as to what is acceptable and what is not . One must decide for themselves whether to give in to these pressures and conform to society’s projected image, or rather to resist and maintain their own desired self image. In the story “Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro, Munro suggests that this conflict is internal and external and a persons experiences in life will determine which of these forces will conquer. In terms of the unnamed protagonist’s experiences in the story, it becomes clear just how strong the pressure of society to conform really is, as it overcomes and replaces the girl’s self image.

The social norm that I chose to violate was initiating conversation and talking to strangers on public transportation. By doing this I deviated from the unspoken rule which says that you should not talk to strangers and that you should not interact with others on public transportation because of the possibility of them harming or assaulting you. From doing this activity, I learned that power dynamics exist in every situation and that by violating a social norm I, as a young woman, put myself in a vulnerable position.