Social norms Quotes

“People are going to behave however the social norms permit, and beyond that.”

“Stay in the middle of the bell-curve of social norms and follow along, or you will find out the about freedom you never had.”

“To misbehave us to denounce the social norms that limit individuals based on who they are. That to make history is to upset patriarchy, a system that is intent on controlling and marginalising others.”

“A democratic medical establishment does not alter people's bodies to fit regressive social norms it advocates for patients by demanding the social body get its act together. ”

“For most inhabitants of the Arab world, the prevailing cultural attitude toward women - fed and encouraged by Wahhabi doctrine, which is based on Bedouin social norms rather than Islamic jurisprudence - often trumps the rights accorded to women by Islam.”

“Normality does not exist. There is no such a thing as normal. The social norms that guide most people are not always normal for everyone. Behaviours and actions that are abnormal for most people may be considered normal for others, so therefore normality does not exist. Stay true to yourself; never be ashamed of doing what feels right to you at any giving moment, decide what feels right to you and do it. Don’t be normal, be yourself.”

“These ideas fit the experience of these Japanese women who often talked about searching for or trying to develop "self" (jibun). Cultivating or polishing self by doing tea ceremony or being a good mother, for example, had a good connotation for the Japanese because it meant that you were trying to go beyond your narrow self and connect self with the larger world beyond social norms. But developing self in the new way these women used it meant to develop self according to just what you want to do or in a way that enhances your own possibilities in the world. Would others see choosing a life for self as selfish? These women had to maintain some ambiguity because they were wandering into dangerous territory when they wanted to travel just to enjoy themselves, or keep working and not marry. In a society that honored the cultivation of a larger self, would they themselves someday suffer for having chosen the self-centered way?”