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Liseli Luna
22 April 2014
Gown Away From the Ages
Since the day you are born you are assimilated into a culture nurtured from
parents, neighborhoods, and a broader geographical region that is identified as a whole. Each
person, each region has their own culturethe way that they perceive the world around them and
other peoples values and ways of life.
Once cultures are introduced to each other, through their lens, they distinguish the
others culture to be odd and abnormal. Culture shock is derived from this difference of culture
and norms. From the conservative styles of Asian cultures juxtaposed with intimate ways of
greetings within Western culture to having a disoriented feeling which occurs in the context of
being in a new culture ("Culture" 4) it derives from the lens perceived from.
. Through our culture, some unknowingly or unacknowledged, there are a set of rules
made to be followed. Norms are rules defining appropriate and inappropriate behaviors
(Culture 7), each according to a perception of a culture. The most common of norms would be
mores, which are norms most strictly acknowledged and are what define moral rights and
wrongs. The lesser known norms are folkways. Though these norms are not major influences in
morals they create a standard of everyday life. Stemming from family upbringings, religion,
friends and other influences norms make almost standardized ways of interacting with people.
Though the most commonly known to receive negative sanctions are taboos. They are
ideas that are hard to even visualize in the mind; though acts of deviance are performed, taboos
are highly avoided, and even speaking about it may bring about high discomforts. Most of the
radical well known taboos would be incest and bestiality; it also includes dietary restrictions
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like Halal and kosher diets for Muslims and Jewish people, eating beef by Hindus (Fershtman,
Gneezy, Hoffman 140), like folkways and mores it is distinct to ones culture.
Norms are presented to society for a foundation of human interactions that allows them
privacy and an idea of morals, ethics, and simple thoughts through the steams of the conscience.
Norms are able to create a balance within societies, although breaking norms has also led to
revolutions and changes into modern society.
Turn on the TV or browse through the internet norms are ever present with new trends
and ideas spinning around heads. Even clothes have social norms. From warm and thick clothes
being worn in the winter, to some new ideal that followed the clothes of the time, events, time,
and Culture even affect the clothes we wear. Depending on religion and the morals and values
brought into account showing knees could be considered wrong. Compared to an easy going
religion that does not specify types of clothing proper for females above the knee would not
bring about any negative sanctions from people of that social group associated with.
Now a days clothing trends are going back in time following the hipster age. But
imagine what would happen when clothing is chosen further back from the mid-1900s. Wearing
a ball gown that looks like it could date back maybe even a bit further back from the Victorian
age could cause people to take a double take and try and understand the situation in hand, as
wearing gowns normally is not a situation people are normally accustomed to seeing. Depending
on the areas people might not even question me directly but from afar question my motives.
What was synonymous for a show of wealth then could represent gaudiness and a desire to stand
out from the crowd now. Though, a ball gown can be accepted under curtain events like prom or
the tradition of a Quinceaera, it can still be frowned upon.
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Pick a gown and wear it to school and now a social norm is broken. Against uniforms and
occasional casual wear that are usually worn during school hours it would definitely get people
talking. But within the Vaughn International Studies Academy (VISA) walls students do not
usually express their opinions out loud but separately and within small groups of friends in
contrast to VISA teachers who do little to hide their concern for out of the ordinary behavior.
During a free dress day (no uniform) in VISA I decided to perform this act of deviance
and wear a ball gown. I felt no different, but as soon as I got out of the car my cousin noticed I
was getting stares and double takes. Certainly taking up space also had something to do with the
stares, the fact that I was in a dress seemed to take a hold of some interest. Reaching my first
class, Advisory, I took a seat and greeted a friend and was asked by a classmate why I was
dressed like that taking note that I have had the least interaction with him in high school.
Though people who I also had the most interaction with questioned my motives as well, they
though a lot less about it and continued with the day soon after.
As the time went on I noticed people tried to rationalize it. One teacher asked if I lost a
bet, other teachers and students alike asked if it was for Drama or extra credit for a class; I was
no longer in Drama and this dress had no association with what the curriculum for history or
another class for that matter. Throughout the day I was approached and asked about the ball
gown. As I replied that it was for no particular reason it was followed by a visible look of
confusion on their face and a compliment after a few moments of letting the information sink in.
Oddly enough most girls would tend to compliment with Its really pretty and most guys
would reply with its really cool. Though both were amused, they focused on different aspects
of the dress. The girls tended to focus more on the dress itself and the guys tended to focus on
the idea of wearing a dress to school rather than normal causal wear to school. Only two
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people throughout the school day responded directly to me with a negative sanction, both
wording around Its too much, in contrast to what I believed would get more negative response
from others.
A survey was created and released after the day; sixteen people replied. In the survey
taken a majority of the assumptions where that it was for drama. A majority where confused and
surprised, though most just did a double take and resumed with their day. Three had negative
comments to share when asked If there are any negative reactions or thoughts to it, what were
they? one of these comments included This girl must have a small friend circle.. This
suggestion that the gown would be disapproving enough to push people away from me, enough
to not want to social with me, was intriguing to see what extent clothes- mere fabric- could have.
When asked Did you make a new perception of me personally? How was I labelled in
your mind as a person? most people responded with seeing me as more daring since I was
always shy. This made it a possibility that as a person individually I could have potentially
gotten more of a reaction than someone more daring. And when asked when too far in time
would be, compared to the hipster wear, most replied with the 1920s or cavemen age. Two
completely different ages that show how liberal some of the people were, clothes wise, in
contrast to others. And to my surprise no teachers thought of sending me to the office, not from a
dress code I could have been unaware of or for being a distraction.
Certainly in most parts of the day I felt flattered by many of the people, whom I have
barely spoken to before this day, who complimented my attire. But one cant help but feel
abnormal when simply walking to class brings at least a question or two. Even simply talking to
a friend left a unique quality in the conversation, as they were still not use to the dress.
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Unfortunately throughout the day one does not really feel a part of a circle of friend as the dress
really does classify you as a single person rather than a part of the group.
Reasonably, these reactions were given to me because of out of date clothes. Even today
the fast growing hipster culture mainly focuses within the 1950s and 1920s and has some
resemblances to modern fashion in respect to length and volume. But ultimately it did not stick;
the dress was just a double take and a shrug of the shoulders for both student and teachers alike
and never did end up being a part of a conversation. In the end it was not their clothes to worry
about, so it was forgotten.
People throughout the ages conform to a society to avoid receiving any negative
sanctions. From the day we are born parents and other influences try and make a person as
normal as possible to avoid receiving any negative sanctions. These ideals are exerted on
people and stick with them throughout a life time. In the end people conform to the expectations
of a social role, (McLeod) creating their identity in society. This normative conformity involves
group pressure onto a person to conform.
Though, there are also different reasons why people conform to a role in society. Most
commonly guessed would be to avoid any negative sanctions but there are also people who
conform to receive social rewards (McLeod); ingratiational conformity does not involve group
pressure to conform.
This urge to conform is so strong that it has even driven grown men to say wrong
answers just so they would not feel peculiar as the only one disagreeing. In the Asch Experiment
a line test was given out to a group of people, one would be the variable and the rest would say
the wrong answer of which line was the longest. In a situation where the answer was obvious
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some people conformed even though they knew that the answer was wrong, shows how strong
the urge to not be different from others really is.
Although many of our everyday processes seem mundane and unimportant, each little
thing we do is guided by norms. From the way we eat down to the way we dress we feel the need
to conform to society and continue in a world taken for granted.


















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Works Cited
"Culture." Open Source Sociology Textbook. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 1-12. Web. 8 Mar. 2014.
<https://mymission.lamission.edu/userdata/alvarats/docs/Open%20Source%20Textbook/
Culture.pdf>.
Fershtman, Chaim, Uri Gneezy, and Moshe Moshe Hoffman. "Taboos and Identity: Considering
the Unthinkable." American Economic Journal: Microeconomics. Vol. 3. N.p.: n.p.,
2011. 139-64. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. <http://management.ucsd.edu/faculty/directory/gneezy
/pub/docs/taboo.pdf>.
McLeod, Saul A. "What Is Conformity?" Simply Psychology. N.p., 2007. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.simplypsychology.org/conformity.html>.