We live in a world where when social norms are broken, you are considered to be ‘weird,’ ‘not normal,’ or ‘different’. But what is a social norm and how do we obey or disobey them in our everyday lives? Social norms are the behavioral expectations and cues within a society or a group. This sociological term has been defined also as the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Some basic social norms we abide by everyday without even realizing it are attending class when scheduled, listening to our professors, driving on the right side of the road, wearing shoes, and many, many more. We tend to follow social norms because it is what we’ve grown up doing, and going against them just wouldn’t seem right or logical. Even though we usually follow social norms without a second thought, nowadays we disobey the ‘norm’ and have over time possibly even made them to be somewhat of a social norm on their own. What do I mean by that? I mean that back in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, tattoos and piercings weren’t a commonality. Getting any form of body modification was thought to be rebellious and uncommon. But in today’s day and age, tattoos, piercings, breast augmentation, and plastic surgery are extremely common actions that almost everyone seems to perform. Another action that is now more of a social norm than it was in the past would be homosexuality and bisexuality. Just a few years ago, any sexuality other than heterosexuality was looked down upon in a major way. But today if you were to discriminate against a homosexual/bisexual person, there would be many lawsuits, and people would treat you as if you were in the wrong. An example of when I have seen these instances come into play is during the 2012 movie 21 Jumpstreet. The movie is about two young male undercover police officers that are going back to high school to make a drug bust. In one of the beginning scenes, one of the officers and a student carry on this conversation,

Student One: “Hey, will you all shut the h*ll up! I’m trying to study.”
Officer One: “Look at him! He’s actually trying! What a nerd.”
Student One: “Who are you calling a nerd, man?”
[Officer one punches student one in the face, knocking him to the ground]
Officer Two: “Sh*t dude!”
Officer One: “Turn that gay-ass music off!”
Student One: “You punched me because I’m gay?”
Officer One: “What? No!”
[All the kids in the parking lot circle around them]
Officer One: “Oh, come on!”
Officer Two: “That’s not cool, man.”