Norms Are Human Made Inventions Essay

The struggle for equality has been intense, and still continues to this day. With this being said, much progress has been made in establishing respect and external acceptance for all individuals sense of identity. For example, in 2015 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Same Sex Marriages, marking a pivotal point in the civil rights movement for the LGBTQ community. For many, this act helped to support their sense of self, a right that been denied for so long. The United States effectively validated the LGBTQ community, giving this group all rights granted to all other citizen’s, However, the creation and acceptance of this community has not had positive benefits for all members. The Gender Binary has been changed, but many distinctions

Roy Cohn and Joe Pitt represent the stereotypical gay man who refuses to publicly acknowledge his sexuality. They portray how gay men sometimes go to extreme lengths to deny their homosexuality. Both not only lie to others, but they lie to themselves. There is a certain sadness in the fact that some gay men desire the respect of strangers over being honest with themselves. Why do such a large number of gay men live lives in denial? The answer is simple. The answer is fear. Fear is the driving force behind many gay men's secrecy. The fear of how others may view them and the fear of how they will be received is overpowering.

The impetus of religion and church leaders that drives the acceptance or non-acceptance of nontraditional relationships sexual orientations helps to create within many communities shame and guilt for LGBT individuals. “Beyond the legal restrictions, many communities perceived nontraditional sexuality as something abnormal

Have you ever thought why you shake hands when you meet someone, why you do not curse in polite conversations, why you don’t pick your nose in public, or why you say please and thank you? All of these examples are part of our society norms, our culture, and our beliefs. What are norms? What are they for? What do they do for society and individuals and

Elizabeth Rooney and Don Gibbons state that the levels for social tolerance of homosexuality vary depending upon whether homosexuality is seen as harmful to its participants or society, and the variation in the backgrounds of the people who are defining homosexuality as deviance (Rooney 1966). The attitudes that vary towards homosexuality are influenced by a number of sources. These sources can include religious teachings, age variations, different education levels, and different socioeconomic factors (Rooney 1966). These influences are not necessarily bad, but they do have a large effect on how people view and act towards homosexuals. It is very important that we question these influences and approach what they are trying to teach while keeping the sex-positive approach mentioned above. Especially in the case of religious teachings, the influence can be very biased, negative, and one-sided. Religious practices can, and do, choose to refuse the acknowledgement and acceptance of homosexuality as a sexual

My mother has always told me that certain things should not be done in public. Social norms are opinions and beliefs that are shared amongst a group. Throughout our lives our parents tell us things that aren’t socially acceptable, and that there are consequences for those actions. Those that don’t act in ways that are socially acceptable are isolated from society. Norms help to guide the general public by reinforcing it with a punishment in waiting.

In today’s monotonous world, we are set a mold, we follow the norms in society and hope to fit in. This effects the way we dress, how we stand in line, and which side of the road we drive on. What would happen if we broke those norms? As a Police Sergeant in Drug Investigation at my agency, it is a norm for investigators to wear causal clothes, a suit or a T-shirt and tactical BUD pants, but there is no written rule stating that we must wear it. I decided to wear an actual uniform, a symbol of authority and protection, but to investigators it is a symbol of a “Rookie” or someone just not smart enough to move up. However it is viewed, I decided to wear it to my weekly meeting with the investigators who serve under me.

Is acceptance of one’s sexuality as important as other issues like poverty, unemployment, global warming, natural disasters and proper health solutions for Ebola, Lyme that put our survival itself at risk? When meditating on this question, let us also analyse our own sexual fabric. We set the standards of our own yardsticks to measure a sexual identity as valid/ invalid, normal/ abnormal, natural/ unnatural, acceptable/ unacceptable, moral/ immoral and finally good/ bad. Perhaps, upon these standards we define and adopt a sexual identity that belongs to a privileged position. One tends to overlook these privileges and rights that are available for heterosexual people. On the other hand, the gay and lesbian

Deviancy is the act of going against something that you may normally never do. Being deviant means that you feel uncomfortable doing something that you would not do on a day to day basis. For the experimental part of this assignment, I looked at what I normally did, and where I could do something a little deviant. I decided that during the first few weeks in October, I would start vocally complimenting the male customers that come into the convince store I work in. This was an act of deviance for me, in the sense that I never vocally compliment men. I find myself randomly vocally complimenting females, but I never seemed to do this to males. For my experiment, I decided I would find openly look for something to compliment a male on. The compliments ranged from the color of their shirts to the way their beards looked. I did this experiment over several weekends, and to as many males that I could while at work.

Norms are unwritten socially accepted principles or rules in society that define what is normal and what isn’t. Some norms carry greater significance in our lives than others. The terminology mores was inclined to norms that are extensively observed and hold extensive moral significance. Mores also means taboos of society, things that are not accepted, such as chewing with one 's mouth closed is expected or eating in a sloppy way and at a fast pace is not an acceptable behavior. Mores classify what is merited and what isn’t. When a norm is violated it is defined as deviance and even though the word deviance has a negative connotation to it, it’s not. Deviance means and individual is behaving differently from what society feels is normal behavior. If a person is deviant from norms it doesn’t necessary means that they are doing something bad or immoral. For example, most Canadians eat meat on a regular basis and they feel by doing so is normal behavior, someone who doesn’t eat meat (vegetarian) they would be considered deviant. Their behavior is different to what the majority considers acceptable or normal. And just like norms are relative deviance is relative as well. It depends on the context, individual groups or location in the world and the standard of deviance change based on these factors. (Macionis, John J. Sociology)

Hijra is a term which refers distinct professions such as ritualized blessing during weddings and childbirth; traditionally they dress like women to represent famine physic and may undergo penectomy and castration (orchiectomy) but

Every day in our lives we make conscious decision regarding our very own sexuality. Based upon our values and experience taught they are some of the determination factors that lead us to decide who we are attracted to in terms of gender. In today’s world there is variability in sexuality that has allowed people to accept it as a moral behavior. Yet they are people of religious faith who see sexuality on a whole another scale that is based on the ideas of heteronormativity and the rejection of what society see same sex practices. For me I internalized biblical values that conflicts with the ideas of diverse sexuality because it include same-sex intercourse. Nevertheless through the works of Alfred C. Kinsey, C.J Pascoe, Lisa L. Diamonds John Corvino and Tech they all point out the beauty of sexual fluidity and they all challenge heteronormativity because it limits sexual freedom. Furthermore, they explain the importance of people’s gender presentation. For their reading I learned to be more spathic of marginalized groups such as homosexuals, be more open to sexual fluidity despite my religious value, and have enough respect for people preferred gender and sexuality.

We live in a society that compels us to behave and appear a certain way. From a young age, our parents instruct us on how to socialize, who to socialize with, and how to dress and act. It is all in the name of normalcy, a life where we abide by the norms that have been socially constructed for us. One of the most harmful and widespread social norms is that of heterosexuality. Throughout a child’s developmental period, parents, teachers, and society as a whole press the gender binary and heterosexual relations upon them in a practice known as heteronormativity. Heteronormativity is present in our society and plays a key role in suppressing the sexuality and gender identities of LGBTQIA+ youths, causing them emotional distress.

We use social interaction to discover more about the people and the world around us. People can influence our behavior in many ways. Our behavior is determined the social situation. Social roles are the different positions a person can become within a group. These roles are important because each role is a different set of behaviors. When individuals grow and mature, their role may change. Some roles change for the better, some change in an undesirable way. Social norms are defined as a set of unwritten rules about how we behave. The behaviors that fulfill a social norm is called conformity. Conformity can be defined as the change in behavior due other people’s influences (Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, 2013).

Society, without even saying a word, has given us rules and guidelines that we have to abide. Social norms are rules or guidelines regarding what kinds of behavior are acceptable or appropriate within a culture. They are so embedded within our daily life that often we do not notice them. Because norms are so ingrained within our society, deviation of social norms can lead to be ostracized or even arrested depending on the situation. Violating norms, like promoting hate message about poor people, in society can be explained through the functionalism theory.