Dangerous Social Forces

1172 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Importance of personal and cultural identity

Social forces always come along with behaviors, whether they’re good or bad. They create who people are and can even help identify who we are. Those forces can even help with identifying others too. But they can become dangerous and they shape who a person will grow up to be. If they're influenced to do amazing things or horrible things, help others in need or ignore them. Social forces are beyond our control. Nothing can change them. Social forces influence identities and become dangerous. Gender, race, time and place are just three social forces. All can have negative effects associated with them, the stereotyping of gender, saying that a girl has to dress nice, or cook in the kitchen, race and being discriminated against for not being a certain color, or even how being in a certain place can affect a persons identity, on the way they should act. Using references from To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and other various other resources.
First off is gender. From the moment someone is born, they are marked male or female on their birth certificate. And from there on, that person has expected actions. Gender creates identity or an imagine that people perceive. “... Jem told me I was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, thats why other people hated them…” (Lee 41). In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout, a Tomboy girl, gets criticized for acting like a girl. But what exactly is a girl? Why do people stereotype genders to create an identity. That girls, “Imagine things,” and thats why they are hated. This is when social forces become dangerous. It becomes dangerous when a persons gender forms how they have to act. It can impact who a person is, and change them. Or try to change them, “Hooters… “female sex appeal” is importa...

... middle of paper ...

...y. Social forces can bring out the worst in a persons behavior. People use them everywhere, whether its good or bad. With just one look, a person can create their own view on another person based off their identity. Everyones social forces can be different, but no one should be treated differently. A person can't change their identity, so why criticize it?

Works Cited

Arnade, Chris. "America Is Still a Deeply Racist Country." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 12 Jan. 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.

Mabry. Human Geography J.H.H.S. January Lecture

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Warner Books, 1982.

"Looks That Get You Fired?" Lawyers.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.

“Race, Hatred and the Power of Words” John Hersey High School Freshmen Forum

Shute, Nancy. "Kids Are Less Fit Today Than You Were Back Then." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 03
Apr. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • The Influence of Society: The Crucible

    526 Words  | 2 Pages

    Stephen King once stated “We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why.” People can be influenced greatly by their society and surrounding environment. Once a common belief is generated, it is usually difficult or others if. In the play, The Crucible, such is shown through the Salem witch trials. In the article, “It’s 2013, and They’re Burning ‘Witches’” the people of Papua New Guinea, also known as PNG, still believe that black magic is used to kill people who have no relation to each other. The general belief that the society influences determine the rash decisions that people take and the fear the unknown results in the blame of the unknown.

    Read More

  • Le Guin's The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

    1025 Words  | 3 Pages

    A social issue that is most times overlooked is the social issue of problems with social norms, which are defined as “the rules of behavior that are considered acceptable in a group or society. People who do not follow these norms may be shunned or suffer some kind of consequence.” (YourDictionary). Most social norms are in place so that society flows well and there is less deviant behavior, these being the ones that teach people what to say and how to act in a way that is acceptable. From birth, people are socialized to be able to be fully capable functioning human beings. However, there are some social norms such as violence in the media, turning a blind eye to cruelty, and socialization that negatively affect people and influence society

    Read More

  • Harriet Tubman's Theory Of Social Deviance

    2495 Words  | 5 Pages

    Social deviance is a very broad term, which describes actions or behaviors that violate social “norms.” Norms, in a simple context, are rules by which members of society are expected to conform to. When discussing the term deviance, one might talk about the failure, or people’s failures to adapt to rules established by society. Social deviance has many forms and interpretations. Deviant acts, are primarily relative to setting, because deviance in one place could be considered non-deviance in another place. Theft, violence, murder, or any kind of criminal behavior, can be considered either deviant or non-deviant. It’s up to countries, establishments, and governing bodies to determine what acts are and aren’t acceptable. For example, fighting in a boxing ring is acceptable, while fighting in a nursery home is not. Murdering someone for drugs is not acceptable, but murdering someone in an act of self-defense is. As one can conclude, all acts of deviance are be subjected to review, and accepted on the condition that it fits its highly appropriate symbolism. Acts of deviance can result in some very positive outcomes. It’s important to realize that although failing to concede to a list of rules could be detrimental, it can also improve the standard of life in some parts of the world. Even though social deviance is mainly looked down upon mostly in society, deviance is a necessity. Without deviance, there’d be little to no indication of people’s dissatisfaction and exigency for change. Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman are two primary examples of positive social deviance. Their refusal to follow the laws brought about movements that eradicated change in the nation. It’s important to note that there are positive and negative forms of deviance...

    Read More

  • Sex Lies And Gender Analysis

    681 Words  | 2 Pages

    The reading also discussed the difference between sex and gender. While sex is biological, gender is socio-cultural, meaning it is a social construct. These constructs create stereotypes enforced by the culture. Gender roles are formed and become the "social roles that a person is expected to fulfill based upon his

    Read More

  • Dangers of Authority and Social Pressures

    1308 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hitler and Mussolini were both individuals that used social influences throughout history . Each of these evil villains used authority and social pressure to persuade and manipulate people into performing acts that they wouldn’t normally do . Hitler and Mussolini legitimized their authority through immoral actions and fear and abused their authority. This is important because authority and social pressures are one of the most dangerous combinations there are. The use of these two socially accepted tools have resulted in the deaths of more people, and lead to atrocities such as more genocides than any other social force. . In the 1950s a psychologist Solomon Asch at Rutgers University decided to test group and individuals against in peer pressure. Later on 1963 Ache’s student a Yale psychologist named Stanley Milgram studied social obedience. Each particular study which was 13 years apart would reveal the same answers and types of results. Solomon Asch and Stanley Milgram recognized these events and decided to do their own experiments in social influences and authority. Each one of their studies is equally important, because they reinforce each other in characteristics and results.

    Read More

  • Binary Gender System Essay

    760 Words  | 2 Pages

    Viewing gender as something one must always adhere to and play the role of creates a view of set sexualities for people. For example, men are expected and allowed to be sexually promiscuous while women are not and face slut shaming, harassment,

    Read More

  • The Representation Project: The Representation Project

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    As meaning making creatures, humans attempt to categorize and definitively understand anything they observe. Although this crusade for understanding is not inherently bad, it often produces unintended negative consequences. As humans sort, classify, and define everything, they simultaneously place everything into a box that constricts creativity and fluidity. Concerning gender, these boxes create harmful conceptions of each person on the planet. Although these conceptions of gender are constructed and not “real” by any means, they have real implications in the process of socialization that influence how each person lives his/her life. In the United States, the commonly socialized “boxes” of gender have done a great

    Read More

  • The Effects of the Societal Monster

    828 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein creates a monster in his laboratory as a grief outlet for the recent death of his mother. The monster roams around Geneva to learn the patterns of life and how to be accepted into society. Why does the monster turn violent toward Victor’s family and not to society in general? The monster hurts Victor’s family members to punish Victor because he feels rejected by society due to his grotesque appearance. Victor doesn’t try to make him this way; he just is experimenting and happens to create the being this way. The monster is trying to get revenge on Victor for creating him as an “outcast”.

    Read More

  • Race Gender And Sexuality Essay

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    In reality, gender is not based on one’s genetic make-up or their reproductive organs. Expanding on this, an individual does not have any control over their assigned gender, but everyone has a gender identity, which is one’s internal sense of being male or female. From a sociocultural perspective, gender roles have the greatest influence on gender as a social construction. Gender roles are the attitudes, behaviors, rights, and responsibilities that particular cultural groups associate with each sex. In regards to gender, the social construction theory acknowledges the connection the topic has with power and meaning, and states that social interaction, or “language” controls how these things are portrayed to individuals. Similarly, sexuality is socially constructed in a sense that, one’s sexual orientation depends on what they are taught to be “socially acceptable”. For example, a person who is raised by homophobic parents would most likely be taught that every aspect of homosexuality is wrong, and therefore they would be influenced to be heterosexual. While many would like to believe that people are born with their sexual orientation, that is far from the truth. All in all, when looking at the big picture, it is clear that race, gender,

    Read More

  • Interpersonal Communication in Social Network

    1297 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender refers to psychological and emotional characteristics that cause people to assume, masculine, feminine or androgynous (having a combination of both feminine and masculine traits) roles. Your gender is learned and socially reinforced by others, as well as by your life experiences and g...

    Read More

  • Society's Biggest Threat And Divider

    1588 Words  | 4 Pages

    Society’s biggest threat and divider From political parties, to gender, to race, society’s largest threat and divider is discrimination. From the beginning of time, this has been shown to be present in everyday lives. Discrimination can be caused by stereotypes and prejudice, as these harmful thoughts drive people to judge those around them. Discrimination has, is, and always will be present in American society; it is inevitable to not only be judged, but to judge others as well. This has been proved throughout American literature based on racism and psychological social experiments.

    Read More

  • Gender Identity In Everyday Life

    1884 Words  | 4 Pages

    Identities are an important part of the human experience. One of the many identities that creates a person is gender. Society, being the entity establishing social norms and social roles, plays a part in effecting the individual’s gender, and how they choose to express themself. The underlying or overlying identities also have the same effect. Gender is not only an identity, it is a lifestyle inside and out. Gender, like race, class, and sexuality; is not limited to the binary scale, and that is normal, natural, and human. The concept of gender is man-made, but it forces one’s hand to analyze the thought processes behind an individual's perception on gender through self, through society, or through the dichotomy and/or correspondence of the

    Read More

  • Essay On Social Control

    890 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are a variety of ways in which religions may function as means of social control in small scale and state type societies. The meaning of social control is “the process that, through both informal and formal mechanisms, maintain orderly social life” (Miller 2011:174). The system of social control includes, “informal social controls that exist through socialization for proper behavior, education, and peer pressure’ (Miller 2011:175). Some places may also have “codified rules about proper behavior and punishments for deviation”. An example of a micro culture that would tie in with the informal social control is the Amish and the Mennonites.

    Read More

  • Gender: The Social Construction Of Gender In Society

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    The social construction of gender leads to the creation and sustainment of sex roles that we have been taught to adhere to since birth that results to social doings through the creation of gender – who we talk, how we dress and who we associate with. Men are taught to masculine qualities like not crying and women are taught to do feminine characteristics like playing with dolls and wearing dresses. A prime example of this is in the article written my Diane Reay, that analyzes the construction female behavior, where those who identified as “girlies” care about their appearance and we regarded to as stupid by their classmates. Those who challenged the feminine norms, where referred to as “spice girls” and labeled as bitches or little cows by their teachers because they where thought to be negative influences to the rest of the class. Reay states that, “boys maintain the hierarchy of social superiority of masculinity by devaluing the female world,” (Reay, 2014, pg. 257) by esteeming males over females, it creates gendered expressions that depict once gender more promising that the other in society, where self-declared tomboy Jodie stated that, “Girls can be good, bad or- best of all – they can be boys,” (Reay, 2014, pg. 257) which solidifies the social norm of males being better than

    Read More

  • Gender Deviance Essay

    1329 Words  | 3 Pages

    Society has planted a representation into people’s minds on how each gender is supposed to be constructed. When one thinks of the word gender, the initial responses are male and female but gender may be represented in many additional terms. As defined, “Gender refers to the social expectations that surround these biological categories.” (Steckley, 2017, pg.256) Gender is something that is ascribed,

    Read More

More about Dangerous Social Forces

Open Document