The deeper you look into it, the creepier the view gets! Undoubtedly, it is the society that is 'creepily' normal. Over the period of time, humans have become so adaptable and accepting in nature that they let go of the weird elements that the society possesses. And it happens quite rarely that they notice these things and then criticize society. Let's look into ten creepiest things that society accepts as normal.
1. Arranged Marriages
The problem is not in parents setting up two people, as opposed to, say, friends. The creepiness is getting married for marriage's sake, making marriage a very public affair, and placing the whole affair on the very high moral ground, indeed. This is a cultural norm in severe need of re-examination.
2. Making Women Change Their Last Names (and Homes)
Patriarchy makes us do and accept very weird things. Patrilineal systems and patrilocal residence are just two. They are, however, an erasure of women's identities and very disturbing indeed. Cultural norms like these speak much on the social status of women.
3. Stalk Celebrities
Remember Gossip Girl's obsessive reporting on the lives of the rich and fabulous of Manhattan's "elites"? Life imitates art as Gossip Girls website keeps obsessively reporting every detail of the rich and the famous lives. Stalking celebrities is a cultural norm that borders on gross violation of privacy, and it should probably stop.
4. Base "Fashion And Beauty Trends" on Body Types and Hair Texture
Cleavages are out of fashion, Vogue reports. Curvy posteriors are "in." Wavy hair is enjoying a moment in the spotlight. How creepily can fashion and beauty trends be based on genuine body parts and hair textures and other features of very real people?
Just how commodified a stance on human beings does it bring out, when cultural norms allow aspects of our existence to be arbitrarily labelled "in" and "out" of fashion!
5. Location Services on Apps
A Reddit user once pointed out some apps' creepiness asking for our locations- especially when our location has no bearing whatsoever on its functions. Beware! Big Brother is always watching.
6. Beauty Pageants
It teaches us to value appearance more than it merits, and it gets creepier when pageants extend to beauty pageants for children and even animals. This is a cultural norm that reinforces arbitrary beauty standards besides over prioritizing beauty.
7. Assume People are Straight, Assign Gender at Birth
Heteronormativity is deeply ingrained into our social fabric and it is disturbing. Little boys are asked if they will grow up to marry some female friend or the other, and heteronormativity is written into the way we explain marriage, relationships, sex, and all things related. Arbitrary gender assignment and gender roles is another cultural norm that should be reexamined.
8. Enforce Ideologies Like Nationalism as Compulsory
Some ideologies are enforced as cultural norms, reinforcing a culture that does not encourage original or critical thought. For example, the ideology of treating the lower caste people as impure or untouchables or unlucky. This attempt to control our minds is very disturbing, indeed.
9. Religious Indoctrination
Allowing parents to impose their religious beliefs on their children and raise them in accordance with these is a rather disturbing cultural norm.
10. Base Morality on Virginity
Choosing celibacy is fine. The liberation, however, lies in the choice. To hold up chastity as the only morally upright option, is a cultural norm that is not only infantilizing, but also very sexist, seeing how men are not held up to the same kind of scrutiny as women are.
True.......
+1 Shradha