I really enjoyed the discussion that we had on Monday regarding the underlying influences of culture. I read the Nacirema article before so I already knew that it was describing our own culture. The first time I read it I was able to pick up on the fact of what it was actually describing us, because of this I did not really find anything particularly strange about it. Even though it may sound really weird, it all has a logical explanation when you realize what is actually being described. Even though all of what is being described can be explained it does make a good point of questioning why we do things the way we do. It is interesting to take a look at what influences our social norms and why this is. One of the major things we talked about was Americans obsession of having perfect teeth. Although it is practical to take care of your teeth for health reasons, we do tend to take it to an unnecessarily extreme level. Looking at it from this aspect does help to show what we value as a society. I thought the story someone bought up about the guy in the dorms being shunned when people found out he didn’t brush his teeth was really interesting. This proves the authors point of losing your friends when not conforming to these social norms. Before hearing this story I did not think that people would really act this way towards someone because of something like that. Something else interesting relating to this happened to me today. As I was doing some shopping in Wal-Mart, I needed some toothpaste and it was until I consciously thought about it that I realized that I was only looking at the toothpastes that were whitening. I think this reinforces what we discussed in class regarding the high value we place on having perfect teeth.
Society norms from the outside looking in seem weird. But when you spend time looking into them you realize how normal they are. Something look unusual at first but then you are able to relate them to normal society values and then it is not weird.
ReplyDeleteI agree, when looking at our social norms from the outside, they definitely seem strange. But the fact that they are our social norms make them normal and mundane. I don't understand the obsession with perfect teeth either, but I also adhere to this social norm by having normal habits of brushing and flossing, and I even had costly braces for years of my life just to make sure my teeth were straight and lived up to society's standards. If teeth weren't so highly scrutinized in society I could almost guarantee I would have never went through the annoyance and pains of braces, but because it was a big deal I didn't think anything of getting them just to keep up appearances.
ReplyDeleteI think this article brought a nice sociological prospective to our class discussion that day. As others have mentioned, our routine habits with our teeth are just a few examples of the social norms that exist within the United States. Also, the article makes mention of the consequences that one may face if he or she does not abide by these social norms. In sociological terms, this is social deviance, or the breaking of social norms. I felt this article brought a perspective to class that many were not previously exposed to.
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