Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Socially acceptable ?

How do you know if you're socially acceptable ? If you have people from the society interacting with you and if you have a job and if you're not a psychotic (to the extent of causing harm to others), then you can be classified as socially acceptable ?

13 comments:

Padmini said...
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Padmini said...

First of all, that really depends, doesn't it? For me, a few friends are enough to make me feel socially accepted. Others may seek to have a large number of friends and aquaintances to feel socially accepted. So, it depends on how social you are yourself.

Secondly, we can not overlook the fact that society is made up of diverse beliefs, perceptions and ideals. Then I don't think there can be one standard of social acceptance. I might be a perfectly normal person with a decent job, yet people around me might refuse to accept me. Why? Well, maybe becuase I am a woman of worldly pleasures (NOT referring to your profile, Indira) who likes to read and write erotica, browse adult sites and express her thoughts about love and lust openly. I am not psychotic or harming anyone, am I? Still, I am not as accepted as other women are.

I mean, it's also to do with one's thoughts and attitude, one's own social stance and their idea about life. Do you agree?

loop said...

@ Padmini,
Yes, that brings us to the question, 'what is your society? '.
And I realize 'societal acceptance' is rather too broad a term.
But I was just trying to understand if there are any minimum requirements which would make someone acceptable for ANY society ..
I wonder if the society really has very high expectations from people living it !

Gammafunction said...

Min requirements for ANY society?no, there are none,other than that you do not indulge in physical violence of any sort when it comes to fellow humans.

Padmini said...

I think society and us are not two different entities. The terms are in fact, interchangeable in that sense. Since we want others to be respectful and polite to us, and we want them to be respectable themselves, I think that is the first and foremost expectation the society has from anyone. Secondly, we all like our freedom and space and we wont like it when somebody tresspasses. So, I will consider that the next expectation. They are bare minimums. Anything else is one's personal choice and should not bother us, that is the society. But then, human society is both complex and hypocritic. We are never content with others and want them to follow the ethics and a code of conudct that we ourselves don't follow.

anon said...
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loop said...

@ Rajat,
I liked your view . I think that's the simplest and the best !

@Padmini,
Right, one's idea of society and individuality are closely knit. Like they say, do unto others what you what them to do unto you .
And whatever you stated about being respectful and giving space is something that reflects your idea of what a society should be .
The more I think on this, the more difficult I feel to list down a set of traits to be socially acceptable. It's to be seen case by case.
If you want to be associated with a society S, you should follow or be active in that particular society!
The bottom line however would be as Rajat wrote, not to cause physical harm to others. Anything else is just specific !

@ Vishu
Yeah, my attempt was to zero down on these set of common rules , common across any society. Apparently, there are few or no such :)

Manjunath said...

for me, society would accept anyone, lot depends on the mindset. even though i am jobless and i don have any goals or aim in life, i am accepted by the society as a waste fellow. i can be a good person if i am useful to someone, maybe help someone reach their goal or help in any form. then i would be acceptable as a good person without aim.

Ankit Ashok said...

Humans have a tendency to stick to the known - relish that while there is no motivation to change status quo. Call it Social inertia if you will.

Every person has to conform to the norms laid down by the society - to be considered "Social". If there are enough people who are of the same kind but differ from existing norms - they create their own norms and gradually become a acceptable. Thats how all the cultural shifts in the world have happened - and will continue to do so in the small (as compared to the evolution time of humans) time-frame we observe it.

Ankit Ashok said...

As for what will make you more acceptable, try driving people around you as crazy as yourself, and whola! you are accepted too!

Maurya said...

Society 'accepts' you, when you either add to the sum total of the 'secure' feeling in the system (society), or when your presence is neutral to the feeling of 'security'.

If you increase the 'insecurity', then the society doesnt accept you! Because, every member of the society wants to be 'secure' to long last ('the river of gene!'), and anybody or anything makes things 'insecure', then they dont accept it.

Example: A criminal is not accepted, as he may cause harm to anybody in the society. A true gentleman is accepted, as he is likely to help somebody, thus increase that persons security.

Think again, you will find that everything is connected to the 'security' or 'insecurity'!

Manivannan

(NB: Indira, surprising to see that we have 3 things in common; Siddhartha, Life is beautiful and Karnataka!)

Arumugam said...

I have been struggling with this question myself...someone once said "Is there no better model than a well adjusted bread earner or a dutiful consumer?Why do set our standards of sanity so low?"

Arumugam said...

One more thing..I feel any society's minimum requirement is propagation of the species...that was(and still is) the reason why society frowns on people who are not straight.They can live for themselves without providing for a newer generation...hedonism in its truest sense.