Breaking A Social Norm

Remember when you were a kid and your parents said you couldn’t wear your favorite princess dress or your favorite superhero costume in public? Even after throwing a tantrum and telling them that you detested them, yet they still said no. If so, did you ever wonder why? Well, the answer is pretty simple, it was because society said so. Over time society has created these set of unspoken rules that are known as social norms. Society basically tells you how you should act, and what you can do and can’t do. We abide by these rules because that’s what society taught us is acceptable. Consequently, if we deviate from these norms we face social repercussions, like, gossip, shunning, and even physical harm. So, your parents were never the bad guys here, they were trying to protect you from the harsh reality that
There are two types of norms, formal norms and informal norms. Formal norms can be viewed as rules or laws that are usually written down, they are strict and punishable if broken in any way. One example are the laws in the United States created by the Government in order to have some control over the population. People who break these laws are mostly criminals and are punished by either being fined, sent to jail or if it’s something major, they receive the death penalty. Therefore, these formal norms are important because if they didn’t exist, then murderers’ and rapists’ would be able to walk freely. Informal norms are your unspoken standards that society has set, they are not written in stone and we all kind of just go with the flow. There’s no punishment when we deviate from the norm but we do risk social humiliation. For example, when you’re at the movie theater, you know that you have to be silent so that you don’t disturb others. If you are loud and obnoxious, you’ll most likely be shushed or you could even get kicked out. That’s just one of many unwritten rules that society has