Blog #3: Round 1 of research
My inquiry question: Why do we try to fit in society’s standards?
The question I will research on: What are society’s standards? I believe researching the actual standards set by society would help me have a better understanding of my inquiry question.
Social norm: It is the perceived informal, mostly unwritten, rules that define acceptable and appropriate actions within a community. This consists of what we do, what we believe others do, and what we believe others approve of and expect us to do. Social norms are situated at the interplay between behaviour, beliefs, and expectations. Social norms are learned and accepted from an early age. It is held in place by social sanctions for non-adherence to the norm and social benefits for adherence. If people conform to the social norm, they expect to be socially accepted or rewarded. If they do not conform, they expect to be socially punished or excluded. (1)
Beauty standards today: Having a small waist, long hair, and flawless skin. Girls starting at a young age are expected to wear makeup daily, work out at the gym, and stay skinny with curves in the right places. Social media plays a huge role, mostly because they find the image of other women from social media. The truth however, is that 99% of the time people on social media do not even look like that, but due to the image social media girls are portraying, many young women feel insecure with themselves. Even men feel less confident because of the beauty standard that requires them to be good-looking, muscular tall, stylish, and successful. The media always shows these perfect models, although these images can be photoshopped. We think this perfection is reality and leads us to compare it with the perfect models. The media sets these unrealistic beauty standards that can destroy people (2).
Marriage has several social functions that are important within society and culture. Most commonly, marriage indicates the role that spouses play in each other’s lives, in the family, and society. Typically these roles involve a division of labour between spouses, such that each is responsible for different tasks that are necessary within the family. In society, the wives are expected to play the expressive role of a caregiver who takes care of the socialization and emotional needs of the family. The husband is responsible for the task role of earning money to support the family. The husband is viewed as the one with the most power in a family. (3)
From my research, I learn that we are implanted with the idea of having to follow society’s standards from a young age and the media. I learned the importance of just accepting the way I am.
Sources:
1 https://www.unicef.org/media/111061/file/Social-norms-definitions-2021.pdf
2 https://miamihighnews.com/2022/03/07/modern-beauty-standards-and-their-effects-on-society/
3 https://www.thoughtco.com/marriage-3026396
Thank you for reading.
Hi Kiara,
I found this post really interesting , i like how you brought up how women are expected to fulfill this caregiver roll. That made me think about the patriarchy and its negative effects on both woman and men. I think it could be interesting to look into how societies standards for women also affect men negatively , for example men are not expected to show their emotions. Here is a resource that could help you in your research ,I look forward to reading you future posts good luck.
-Sammie
https://www.cordaid.org/en/story/we-are-all-victims-of-a-patriarchal-society-some-just-suffer-more-than-others/
Hi Kiara!
This is a very interesting topic. This topic is an important one that deserves the awareness that it gets now. You are right that women are especially affected by this and wanting to fit into society with a small waist, clear skin, skinny, etc. While you did talk about men as well, maybe you could also talk about how people who don’t identify or even more about men as well. I am very invested in your topic and interested to see future posts as well.
Here are some resources that could help you:
https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=Awrg1jAr2VFk_lAJjSEXFwx.;_ylu=Y29sbwNncTEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1683114411/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwww.independent.co.uk%2flife-style%2fbody-image-self-esteem-curvy-b2006942.html/RK=2/RS=JyKjupBCv2Jbtjv2pqcxvlAamjU-
Why Do People Want To Fit In Society | ipl.org
Hi Kiara,
I really enjoyed reading your blog post – it was well organized and easy to understand. I definitely agree with what you said about the social media aspect, that it is displaying the “perfect” sides of different people as if they are the norm, which is not true in reality. I think this especially effects young children negatively as their view of the world is still developing, and they do not have their full set of abilities to detect what is right or wrong, or true or false.
I’m not sure what your next round of research is, but I feel it might be interesting to expand on how people’s behaviours are changing because they’re trying to fit in society’s standards. You can include a comparison between back in the times where social media is not as developed, and how new generations are reacting as they are exposed to the internet at such a young age. What kind of actions should we be taking to alleviate the issues existing, or to encourage new ideas?
Here are some links that might help:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7244919/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/social-media-impact-human-behavior-society-piyushi-jain
Good luck and I look forward to more of your blog posts!
Hi Jade,
Thank you for your feedback. I like your idea of how there is a comparison between back in the times where social media was not as developed, and now. From my perspective, I think there’s a big difference. I consider adding this information to my future research.
Hi Kiara, I liked how you talked about the marriage aspect of why we as people want to fit into societies standard as I feel it is not talked about as much as someones appearance on Social media! I also agree that is it very important to accept who you are as a person for your own benefit! If this is helpful, I found this article on how it is sort of good to not always fit into Societal norms! hope this helps you with your research!!! Good luck!
https://mindpotentialpower.com/the-benefits-of-not-fitting-into-societal-norms/
Hey Kiara! I loved reading your blog post as I gained a lot from it. I am so happy you spoke about the unrealistic beauty standards as it is something that so many people can relate to. Your topic in general is one that so many people feel heard while reading, so for that thank you!
I found these sources and I hope they help you out!
1. https://aandm.org.uk/2018/11/19/societys-pressure-to-be-perfect/
2.https://www.teenink.com/hot_topics/what_matters/article/690519/Societys-
I look forward to reading your future posts, best of luck!