Social norms are informal rules that govern behavior in groups and societies. They touch almost every aspect of our lives.
Academics like to use this comparison to explain the concept: just as grammar is a set of regulations that governs the structure and organization of language, social norms regulate the structure and organization of people, and, again, just as grammar shapes how we communicate and understand language, social norms shape how we behave and interact with others.
Sociologists talk about social norms motivating people to act, economists explore how they influence market behavior, and legal scholars view them as alternatives to laws, and while their words make sense, if we deconstruct these systems enough, they can begin to look silly.
Recently, Reddit user Irish-Springs made a post on the platform, asking people to share what social norm they find pretty weird when they think about it, and it has already received over 5,300 comments, many of which raise some hilariously valid points.
#1
People's absolute horror about women breastfeeding in public.
Oh, I am sorry, Karen. I am giving my baby substance, not trying to attract your 12 year old son.
Report
266points
#2
Paying tens of thousands of dollars to bury corpses in the ground.
Report
262points
#3
People expect you to get along with family (parents, siblings) even if they treat you like s**t.
259points
#4
The expectation of tipping for certain jobs, as a substitute for paying employees a higher wage.
Report
257points
#6
Showing excessive gratuitous violence is fine, and will get you at most a PG-13 rating, which most people will think is too strict anyways. But show even one uncovered booby and people will lose their minds.
228points
#7
Circumcision is pretty wild. Cosmetic surgery on the genitals of a baby is pretty weird.
Report
226points
#9
The absurd obsession the US has with the flag and the "reverence" surrounding it. It's a godsdammed piece of fabric. Actually, US patriotism as a whole.
YankeeMoose, The absurd obsession the US has with the flag and the "reverence" surrounding it. It's a godsdammed piece of fabric. Actually, US patriotism as a whol
Report220points
#11
Working your a*s off for 65 years to then live for 10 years.
Report
213points
#13
The topic of sex being generally taboo despite the fact that it is the reason we’re all here and that a majority of people love it.
Report
208points
#14
Bikinis vs bras. If you bra is made out of swimwear fabric, suddenly new social rules apply.
Report
200points
#15
Forcing people in their teens to decide on a career with the implication that they'll do it for the rest of their life and sealing the deal by putting them into so much debt studying for said career that they're pretty much enslaved to it.
Report
197points
#16
Working 40 hours a week. It’s actually insane that we all put up with it.
Report
192points
#18
Education should be fully free across the board. It makes 0 sense that a country would impoverish their own people rather than invest in a strong, educated and healthy population.
The ONLY reason that university costs money is to perpetuate social stratification. You could probably take 5% of the military budget and it would more than cover it.
Also, isn’t that what “free market” people always b***h about? That once people are rich they will give back and trickle down? Tax the 1% sell slightly more and you would have it paid for.
Germany has free education. It works just fine.
If you are smart and ambitious enough to attend a university, it should be fully state sponsored. The only reason people are against this, is that some kids who grew up rich and didn’t have to take out a mortgage to enter the rat race are jealous they don’t get to keep their advantage.
Report
174points
#19
Women can show their whole breast just not the nipples.
Report
165points
#20
Encouraging people to drink more alcohol. I'm guilty of it myself, 'go on, just one more!' Or I've bought shots for people who have said no, which then pressures them to drink it.
I didn't see a problem with it until I saw a guy taking the p**s out of another guy for drinking alcohol free beer. Imagine being ok with being pressured to take drugs? It's madness when I think about it.
Report
164points