PSYC8762 – Teaching Psychology
The following is a discussion of societal norms by the author, who chose to violate a societal norm at his place of employment and present his discussion here.
Today I went to work wearing blue jeans, sweat shirt, and sneakers, as part of this assignment. Since we now have a dress policy for faculty in my school, I received a few comments from others, such as, “Uh-huh, you’re going to be in trouble,” or some folks reacted with a few non-verbal glances. Others just smiled. I have to admit that I did feel more self-conscious than normal. I suppose this was in anticipation of retaliatory comments. However, most people didn’t say anything. Incidentally, our school board just this year enforced a dress policy which essentially states that we should dress more professionally. It seemed the director of the school board felt that most of our faculty came to work “looking like they were ready to work on their cars instead of teach kids.” Perhaps I will get a letter of reprimand next week. I am excited to see!
Social Norms, Women, Race, and Culture
Crush not the petals of the lotus
Lest you bruise my state of being
Gaze, instead, my friend
Upon the mirror of words
And share my store of memories
To shift gears a little, we can see that the poem above captures the damaging effect from judgmental attitudes and closed minds. Long-standing social norms have imprisoned many cultures and kept them in the dark ages, as a figure of speech. As I grew up in the Civil Rights Era, I watched on TV, and read in the newspapers as Blacks in the South were persecuted in an attempt to keep them within the confines of the White social norms, a strong and distasteful residue left over from the Civil War. I also experienced, with biased spectacles, the women’s movement in this country, and can easily recall high school days when it was inappropriate for girls to wear blue jeans. Now, this is ALL they wear to school. Speaking of women’s rights, I have another embarrassing testimonial to share. In my very first English Literature class in college, I was given the assignment to write a persuasive essay on whether women should be admitted into the military and allowed to fight in Viet Nam. Well, all you women would certainly scorn me for my dwarfed response. I wrote nonsense about women not being able to withstand the harshness of Viet Nam, or not being able to endure the pain of warfare. I received an “F” on the essay. It seems most of my logic was wrong. Women actually have been proven to be able to endure more pain than most men.
An example of another social norm can be seen in the Demi Moore movie, “G.I. Jane,” when a female decides that having a shaved head like the other (male) people in SEALs training is necessary in order to avoid looking different and not fitting in. This is exactly what was done by some of the young women who recently entered previously all-male military academies. If the social norm for a particular group is a shaved head, anyone who wishes to conform to the social norms of that group must shave their head. But those who don’t want females to be able to fit into certain previously all-male groups insist that females must conform, not to the social norms of the given group, but to the social norms for females in the patriarchal society at large, even if by doing so they are prevented from conforming to the social norms of the group in which they wish to participate as an equal. Confusing? Yes, but so are societal norms.
On behalf of men, too, I can speak from experience from the days when dear ole dad made me wear a crew cut. I didn’t like it, but he insisted since it was the 50s and all real men wore crew cuts, a spin-off from the military. I later rebelled, as I mentioned in my first posting. As fate would have it, too, the Beatles helped to change that social norm about ten years later!
Social and Cross Cultural Norms Demonstrated Through of NVC
As most of us know, social norms, such as handshakes, nodding, winking the eye, opening doors, pulling out chairs for ladies, standing when a woman enters the room, looking someone in the eye, not looking someone in the eye, dressing up to go to church, or walking on the street side when accompanying a woman, are all examples of social norms formed from societal and cultural traditions.
Just to stir the pot a little, (one of my social norm-busting habits), let’s imagine we are attending a USA-Iran Soccer Game. Since we are all teachers and counselors, we naturally are proponents of good will. So, as a friendly gesture to promote international relations, we give some Iranian fans a “thumbs up” sign. They immediately respond back by skimming their right fist with the left palm in a short horizontal motion away from their bodies. Several Greek fans notice what we’ve just done, and in return, make a motion with flat hand pushed towards us. Other US fans notice what’s going on, and give us the “OK” sign. Some fans from Southern France also notice what we have done and give us their own “OK” sign.
Meanwhile the Iranians score a quick goal and some Arabs gesture by holding tips of thumb and finger of one hand pointing upwards in a pyramid and shaking the hand up and down from the wrist. Some black US fans sitting next to us immediately stand up and begin sucking their teeth while assuming a limp stance. Several Chinese fans see this and look with “narrowed eyes”. Some fans from Kenya look at the Arabs following the Iranian goal and lowered their brow. Thai fans of look our way and raise their brows. You stand up and shout, “That’s OK, we will win, I am sure.” A fan from France looks at you after overhearing your comment, and runs his index finger down his cheek. An Italian fan looks at us all and pinches his lips with index finger and thumb.
So, what cultural norms have we violated here through our gestures and shouting? I will let you all know later…maybe!
References
Argyle, M. (1988). Bodily Communication. New York, NY: Methuen and Company, Ltd.
Bull, P. (1987). Posture and Gesture. New York, NY: Pergamon Press
Broadbent, M. (1976). Group Rapport: posture sharing as a non-verbal indicator. Group and Organization Studies, 1(16) 328-333
By: Glenn Schuyler
