breaking the norm Essay example

If the baby is born as a male, he is dressed in blue. If it is a girl, she gets the pink blanket. This is a prime example of symbolic interactionism. Starting from the very beginning, we are given certain connotations towards words or other symbols. What do you think when you hear these words? "Blue" "Pink" "Masculine" and "Feminine. ". Most people would answer with blue for a boy, pink for a girl, masculine for a man, and feminine for a woman. These immediate thoughts that pop into our head are all effects that were given to us by society. Research done by doctor Marco del Guidance reads that pink has been associated with feminity and blue with masculinity since the early 19th century. It is believed that that relationship between pink and girls, and blue and boys, is believed to have derived from mass marketing which helped spread and normalize these

Gender roles have been used as a way of raising children for generations. While they have not always been the typical “pink is for girls, blue is for boys” stereotypes that we have grown accustomed to, there have always been certain roles for men and women that deem what is appropriate and what is not. Although the idea of gender roles has existed for centuries, the stereotypes themselves have evolved, leading many to believe that they are a social construct. “Up until the beginning of the 20th century, pink was actually more associated with boys, while blue was more associated with girls—illustrating how socially constructed these associations really are” (“Gender and

In the current society that we live in, there are many things that help shape our perception of sexual identity. In the discussion with the class, there was a consensus that family, media, religion were the major influencers on how we develop our sexual identities and how we view other’s sexual identity. From childhood, most of us are shaped by the view of our parents and often follow the same principles and views at them. Though many people usually divert from this thought process, it still serves as a foundation for our future views and principles, whether we agree with our parents or not. Going through our individual groups discussions, many people in my group felt that a large part of their perception about the LGBT community came from the media and how the community was portrayed in the media. We discussed that in our childhoods we were often presented with gay characters that were often very flamboyant, feminine

Whilst facilitating an enrichment project for KS4 learners, it was my pleasure to work in collaboration with a ex-pupil of mine (who had left the school two years previous.) in order to explore the issue of homosexuality, homophobia and briefly touch on stereotypical views in society.

When you enter any store that has a children’s toy aisle, you automatically figure out which side is for boys and which side is for girls. On the girls’ side, you generally see lots of pink and purple, and glitter too. Blues and greens, as well as many other dark colors, fill the boy’s side of the aisle. The division of this aisle and the colors associated with male or female toys is known as the idea of gender-stereotyped toys.

In the article " Rethinking Women's Biology" the author position appeared to be that society dictates what a woman means and teaches it from childhood. The old concept of blue for a boy and pink for a girl starts out from birth and is

Within the American culture, our youth are taught that the masculine roles of the male has traditionally been associated with their role of being strong and dominant and the feminine role of a female has traditionally been associated with their role of being the follower and the nurturer. Children learn the gender roles beginning at birth through the socialization process. Historically our society has always identified male infants with blue and female infants with pink, however, with the turning of the 20th century more neutral colors are being thrown into the mix. More expecting parents are adventuring away from traditional blue and pink and choosing the neutral colors such as green and yellow. Children learn gender socialization through family members, education, other children and social media. Each reinforces the gender role by displaying and maintaining the normal expectation for each genders behavior. Our youth are taught at an early age of the separate expectations of each gender. Parents often teach the role not knowingly but through association. Boys are associated with trucks, toy guns and superheroes that teach them motor skills and independence, whereas the girls are associated with baby dolls, dress costumes, and toy kitchens which teaches them nurturing and social

I am a violation to society because of who I am. My skin color, my hair, the way I dress and talk. Society tells us to be ourselves and to be unique, but the pressure of fitting into the cookie cutter norm is overbearing. When I act like myself, they tell me I’m violating the norm. When I’m following the norm, they tell me I’m plain, but hey, at least it’s better than doing your own thing. Congratulations, you are normal!

From birth even the colors they like are chosen for them depending on the sex. “At birth, many hospital nurseries provide pin caps for the girls and blue caps for the boys,”( Eckert and Ginet 737). At a young age, we are forced into these roles or stereotypes. We are told men are always supposed to be strong and every woman needs a man to guide them through life because they are weak and fragile little creatures. By limiting children at a young age, we suppress the potential to be something great because it's too manly or girly.

Gender roles in society, throughout history, has been the leading cause of social expectations, and gender stereotypes, which has influenced children’s social identity. Notably, in the early eighteen century, society did not represent infants as a separate gender, but as an equal individual. Although, in the 1920s, the classification of sex identity started to emerge because of social changes occurring in the labor force. As a result, gender colors such as, pink and blue were highly used to provide variety in children’s clothing. Consequently, the symbol of pink and blue created an identity and the social expectation of gender representation. The media then used social associations to promote gender separation on children’s toys.

When a baby is born they are given a color. Not the color of their skin, but a color for their gender. Pink is for girls and blue is for boys. Women are chosen with pink colors because the advertisers want to show women as being delicate and fragile. Men can have different colors of red, blue, green, yellow, and purple, but not pink. Pink is shown as being fragile and feminine and not strong and masculine. When you look into the different sections in a store you see that the girls have unicorns, candy, princesses, dolls, and tiaras and that the boys section have trucks, cars, tools, and mud. Gender stereotypes make a border for people not to express themselves to the fullest and their emotions. As a young child seeing this type of stereotyping can put a negative impact on them. For example, in children’s books the good people are always princesses and are beautiful gets rescued by the prince who often is handsome. The bad people are portrayed as witches, evil stepmothers and daughter and trolls and unattractive. This sets up an idea that if you’re not attractive than you must be a bad person. This is a wrong idea to project on young children’s minds. Another example is that in the 30’s, Disney released a movie called Snow White. The average women in the 30’s was a size 8, but in Snow White she was a double 00.(JagJammer21, YouTube) A lot of children and adolescents in America watch television so much in their lifetime, that can mimic in their minds that what they see

The consequences of breaking the norms implemented by society when regarding gender specifications can result in an individual being dubbed as queer. Although, society has recently been able to understand and assess the damage caused by foolish presumptions surrounding gender expectations, conventional ways of thinking still persist.

Personally, I do not find myself to be deviant. Deviant summed up to me is breaking norms. Norms are common acts we notice as respectable and notable. I feel as though norms should be followed out of respect for the society. They are not laws, however, they are the polite way of acting. For example, when you meet someone for the first time, the norm would be to greet them kindly, introduce yourself, and shake their hand politely. To me, I find deviance disrespectful because breaking common courtesy seems out of place based on how I was raised. Today norms are not as commonly thought of in everyday life. You always hear about the older generation complaining about the younger generation having no respect.

“For a time pink was preferred for boys, because it was a decided and stronger color. Blue was considered more delicate and dainty and symbolic of faith and constancy and was reserved for girls.” This particular color coding was created to help teach children gender distinction. This system was created because psychologist started to realize how emotional babies were to their surrounding areas. This eradicate behavior lead psychologist to believe that gender could be taught and later tickled down into defining gender with

First, I will prove that societal influence is a real thing. It starts early, usually as soon as the mother realizes that she is pregnant. Once she finds out the gender immediately the separation of boy and girls starts and the coercing begins. It is very interesting how mothers or just people in general never question the establishment. Where is it stated that a boy must wear blue and a girl must wear pink. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule but rarely does anyone question this age old influence that society and the media has set for the masses. Even in terms of furniture colors, white is usually reserved for girls and brown for boys. The only bias is as it relates to baby furniture is usually the basinet.