Essay Sample on Violating Societal Norms

Introduction

Etiquette what every human being is expected to have. Norms maintain the community order without necessarily forcing of any laws. Social norms are there to us on how to behave in society. The essence of this societal norm is because there are many people of different cultures and characters all around us. Therefore, for everyone to be equal, there should be rules and regulations that guide us on how to do it. For one to be able to fit in a society, then these norms ought to be adhered to strictly. If they are not followed, life will be a little more than just miserable. Usually, if societal norms are broken people are bound to react by being irritated, with an alarm, humorous, display some emotions or even have fear. This paper will evaluate people reactions to the norm broken and the consequences of breaking one.

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Dressing is one of the easiest ways to break the norm. For my assignment, I will break a rule on ethics and codes of dressing. The reason as to why I chose to dress this is because it is tough for people not to notice how you have dressed. There are specific dressing codes for every place that we go to. At work we one is expected to be in formal wear. On weekends, one might decide to do casual wear. This dressing code also applies when going to church, to school, to the gym, to a restaurant for dinner even to a wedding party. All these places have different types of dressing that everyone is expected to adhere to them.

People react differently; some have positive reactions while others negative. I knew some people would respond to what had planned to do. Some might probably laugh, Take a picture, talk to me and ask if everything is all right. I presumed that they might think I am in some kind of a messed up situation that I no longer understand what I am doing. Therefore breaking a norm to what I am very good at will be of great surprise to many.

I hunted for a societal setting and task which is familiar to most members of our community throughout the day. The violation of the norm was to be in my environment that is streets school home. As well, it will involve going to a restaurant. This will help me get to see the interactions of different people. My normal environment I expected to meet with some of my friends and get to see their reaction. At school, I expected to see the responses of my lectures and other students. In the streets it is all about strangers, how they will react what will they say or do. My aim for choosing to go to an expensive restaurant was to get a reaction from people of different social class.

This was supposed to be a day that I chose to act out of the odds. Therefore, I decided to break the social norm one day. I decided to do something that I will never dream of doing again. I went to school with my pajamas and as for my shoes; it was even something more hilarious. I decided to take one shoe from a pair of my green canvas shoes the left shoe, and one from a pair of my slippers and wore the two different shoes. I was very confident to the point that even my mom saw me and was speechless. I took my bag and left for school. I had already prepared myself, and I had the confidence to go for the day. I just imagined how I look yet I was looking forward to how, and what people are going to say. After school, I went to an expensive hotel with my odd-looking attire. When I entered the restaurant, all eyes were on me. I took a table and sat. I called in the waiter to make my order.

At first, I was impressed by my idea. However, as the day went by it was starting to seem embarrassing. People took pictures all over. Some laughed there were whispers here and there. I now understood the cost of breaking a social norm. At one point or the other, someone thought I was even crazy especially the people in the restaurant. My clothes were indeed clean, but I just decided to be a little different this time. How the people acted very surprised at the restaurant was one of the reactions I could never forget. The person next to my table even took a video.

It was a day full of new experiences. It did feel both great and a bit shameful when breaking the norm. Additionally, it was uncomfortable at one point or the other. For the first time, I did something unusual. All attention was on me just as I had anticipated. What was even more interesting was the people reactions. It was exactly what I expected to get. However, the most unusual reaction was the one I experienced in the restaurant. Some of the people approached me and greeted me very warmly. It felt so good that I did not feel very different at the restaurant.

Consequently, actions that seem to violate social norm somehow pose some danger to society. Mostly there are consequences of breaking social norm like too much attention, questioning one's role in the community and so many more. When it comes to the antecedents, differences in personal level factors like power and no respect for the societal norms can be portrayed. As for the consequences it involves societal conclusions, emotional reactions neurophysiologic reaction from other and guilt shame from the transgressors.

The breaking of social norms can cause a lot on the side of the transgressor. It is essential to make sure that we are always on the right side with societal rules. The societal norms help regulate the community to a level that everyone no matter their differences will feel comfortable. Most of the societal norms are voluntary. We hardly realize when we do them - for example, helping an old woman cross the road. No one is ultimately forced to do so but one way or the other; I will find myself doing so. The norms make our society even better than what we would have expected.