Prostitution is a label in which someone obtains through the act of selling oneself’s body for monetary exchange. In which, many women face this labeling more than men do. Women come to terms of this label through not only their actions but also through the environment and the background they come from. Through the retrospective labeling aspect, people look at prostitutes as people who were falling into that path of life since the beginning. They look back into their lives and maybe they determine they were always prostitutes because they had many partners before. They look at the upbringing in which they grew up and determine that because maybe they were sexually active at a young age they were already prostitutes. They see their behavior as purely being that of a prostitute and take the label as their whole life’s work. Their attitudes, style, home, are all being judged and all used as signs now to say they are prostitutes because of how they live their lives. Prostitution has become a strong label in which changes the whole perspective of a person and why they are how they are.

As far as prostitution goes, prostitutes themselves have to confront labels which they are constantly being given from everyone around them. However, in the other-fulfilling prophecy, prostitutes also look within themselves and visualize themselves in no life other than the one they are currently living. When being told constantly that they are prostitutes and nothing else, they soon begin to tell themselves that as well. They put themselves in the label and allow themselves to become the person everyone else says they are. They begin to act more like a prostitute, their behaviors and attitudes change to perfectly fit the mold in which they are putting themselves in. While many women who are prostitutes live their life as a need, they also come to believe that that’s what they are supposed to do with their life. They see no purpose in doing anything else since everyone has come to the conclusion that they are prostitutes. It comes easier to them to simply go along and not falter from the path already laid before them.

When we are little, we begin our journey to understanding why things happen and why we have to behave certain ways and look certain ways. Little do we know that everything we are told is simply socially constructed. We begin to follow this norm because everyone has agreed to it and everyone else follows it. We are often told not to be different and simply follow along with what everyone else is doing. Kindergarten is the beginning of the molding to be that perfect child that society wants. While it is usually used as an introduction to the academic world in which we are told we have to attend, it also serves to socially construct us and build us up to be like everyone else in society. It becomes a way to teach us how we should behave in society and how to prepare to be socially acceptable. In doing so, we begin our lifelong training of constantly adapting to the ever changing society in which we have to accommodate for. In attending school, we unknowingly begin to morph into what society wants from us. We follow along because its what we are told to do, to listen to the adults and follow through.

In kindergarten, there is a structure in which everyone follows. There is a time in which we have to arrive and be ready to listen. There is a time in which we participate in class. We only talk when we are spoken to and we have to sit idly while the teacher at the from of the class speaks to us. We have to demonstrate that we are actively listening when the teacher asks a question. In return if we respond correctly we are rewarded with praise or a treat, but if we respond incorrectly we are told we need to pay attention and are negatively punished with teacher disapproval. We are told when we can eat, where to play, when to listen, when to speak. We are constantly told we have to ask permission or given approval to do anything. Same thing applies to the real world. We have to go against every person’s opinion if we want to do something different because it simply is not what we are taught. We are told to follow a certain set of rules and expectations to succeed. If we succeed in the classroom by listening and complying we are in return told that is how we will succeed in life. Kindergarten is in itself the stepping stone to being socially acceptable in society.

In today’s world, we see policemen in a conflicting light. Many incidents that have recently been challenged upon through the involvement with the police and judicial system have created a new view on how society handles its justice system. Policemen and policewomen are handpicked and trained for years and are intensely submerged into the justice system to be trained to protect the people of their city. What happens after training is a completely different reality. During training, policemen and women are taught the essential material to provide safety at all times. In training, the policemen and women to be are kept inside a bubble being protected from how the real world actually works. Once they are let out to serve as official workers for justice and safety, they face something completely different than what they are initially taught. In a sense, most policemen and women go into their fields with the strong beliefs that they would be able to contribute and perhaps help the system in becoming better for all parties involved. However, in reality, most people who go into this field of work, soon find themselves being the exact opposite of why they pursued their career.

Once let out into the actual field and introduced to the streets in which they have to patrol and keep safe, many cops are told orders completely different than what they re told in training. During their exposure to how veteran cops handle situations, these new policemen and women’s realities are shifted. They are told to act on violence and to do whatever is in their power to stop and apprehend criminals, even if it goes against what they were initially taught. They are told that in the moment, they can act out with violence and it’ll be justified because they determine that that is the only way to keep a safe environment. In doing so, these young cops are faced with conflicting decisions within themselves because they do not want to be ridiculed by their task force but they also do not want to go agains that in which they were initially taught. Training and being on the field are completely different realities in which they adjust because to becomes its own little society among the policemen and women. They are told that going against exact protocol is normal and necessary to do their jobs thoroughly.

Looking towards our modern society in todays view, we have come to distinguish a new norm. Over the past couple months, society has changed many of its daily life activities because of a new wave of change that has affected the world dramatically. However, looking back to the beginning, this new norm seemed ridiculous and unnecessary. At the beginning of covid-19, I remember looking at the situations happening all over the world and thinking how it would never come to affect us as greatly as it had everywhere else. The news that was going around about this new scary virus had begun to drive people to feel out of control and they felt the need to do everything in their power to take control of this new situation. There were people running to different stores trying to stock on essential products in case of extreme measures. In the beginning this seemed crazy and out of the normal behavior for society. This pandemic led people to act “weird” in the eyes of those who were unaware of how serious this could turn out. Not only did people rush to stores in attempt to purchase everything off the shelves but we were soon told that we could no longer go outside and we had to end our daily activities that involved the outdoors and socialization. By this point we all surely assumed everyone was going crazy and that everyone was acting out of the norm because they allowed this virus to take over their decision making skills. This not only affected one class of people, but everyone was partaking in this crazy behavior.

Looking back, some actions could be seen as rational. It would be understandable that people would want to be prepared but it could also be seen as taken out of proportion. In the beginning, I looked at this new wave as something completely taken to a next level, however I now look at it with more respect. Nevertheless, I still believe certain actions were blown out of proportion but there is sufficient rational behind the actions of those who acted first. People saw the first sign of danger and decided to take matters into their own hands without caring what other people said or thought. It is understandable and I do believe now that I would as well find myself in a similar situation in where I would have to fend for myself and ensure my health. When this all began, I looked at the few people who were acting out of the normal and I thought to myself how a person could act so desperate and greedy for a situation that would probably never come. I respected others’ decisions as to how they wanted to spend their time and money but it seemed a little ridiculous at the time. This new shift from what is normal to something out of the norm to a new normal has taken a big impact on societies everywhere. When we shift out of this pandemic we will go to a new norm, different than what we had before.

Sanity is a term in which society uses to decipher what is normal and expected. When people think of insanity, they come to think of crazy people out of their minds that do not make any sense. In reality, sanity and insanity can’t even be deciphered and distinguished correctly. Sanity can be described as being of a healthy and conscious mind but when put to the test sanity was often labeled as insanity and insanity was labeled as sanity. In the experiment, the undercover pseudo-patient noticed how the psychiatrists often mistook diagnosis and labeled insanity incorrectly. They took a person with actual conditions and molded them in their reports to fit their illness. Their definition of their illness is what was documented and their background symptoms were altered in order to fit their definition of insanity. Not only did the pseudo-patients notice the false reports but also noticed that the psychiatrists looked at an admitted patient and convinced themselves they were insane and would remain that way no matter their progress. The patients in the psychiatric hospital were able to distinguish the pseudo-patient from actual patients and the psychiatrists never had a clue. They convinced themselves that they were all insane when unreality they become blinded by the definition of a simple word.

When doing a job, its easy to become distracted by the goal, however in a job as essential and important as psychiatry its important to notice any and all signs. To ignore what patients say simply because its determined they are not of their right mind is ignorant and all contracted behind a meaning of a word. Psychiatric hospitals have a common goal but it doesn’t include failure to do it correctly. When determining how many and who were the pseudo-patients, psychiatrists incorrectly labeled ill people as sane. It comes to a point where insanity can’t even be properly described because at that point the meaning of a word has taken over the reality in which they fail to see and distinguish. Not only has sane and insane taken extreme meanings in society but the two words have come to distort what is real and what is constructed.

When I was a kid, my style was very much tomboyish. I remember growing up with my brothers and never really being interested in the typical things little girls were expected to be interested in. Instead of playing with barbie dolls I would play with my brother and his action figures simply because it seemed more fun than playing dress up. I found no issue in playing with my brother and not giving it much importance to play with girl toys. However, when I started getting a little older I was always told to behave more like a girl. Because I spent a lot of time playing with my brother and boy cousins I developed tendencies that young boys have when playing around. I would join them in play fighting and being loud, little did I know that’s not how I was expected to behave.

The earliest I remember being told to behave like a girl is probably when I began kindergarten. That was my first involvement with other kids and naturally I gravitated to play with the boys rather than the girls in my class. My mom made it her priority to always dress my nice and clean. So on the outside I looked like a girl but my playtime manners were always more like the boys. I never found the appeal of being in the girl circle but instead I wanted to play and run around and not care what anyone had to say. The more I didn’t act the way people wanted me to the more I was told to act the way I was supposed to. I would constantly hear, “sit like a lady”, “Don’t be so loud”, “behave”, “stop playing so rough”. It was a constant reminder from society that I couldn’t portray myself like I wanted to because it wasn’t ideal and didn’t fit my gender. While I do identify as female and like more of the typical things that society’s idea of a normal girl like, I also like being different in a sense that society shouldn’t have a say on how things are since the concept of normality does not exist. It has simply become something that everyone agrees on but one person’s normal is very different than someone else.

Everyone in life takes on a role, whether it be a parent, student, teacher, nurse. Roles are a cycle in society to continue the working process of functionality which keeps everyday life consistent and organized. Roles in prisons are similarly portrayed, however there is no order or limits to power which are established. Prisons are places for rehabilitation, but instead are turned into a place of punishment with its own rules. the punishment in which takes place in prisons is more like torture and breaking of ones will until they are turned into something completely unrecognizable. There are two roles in prisons, the prisoners and the prison guards. In Zimbardo’s experiment, he takes volunteers to willingly go in and portray one of the two roles. By the final days he had to cut the experiment short because of the new reality that was created for these volunteers. They took the role they were given to portray but instead they soon come to live by that role. They psychologically determined that was their new reality and all they could do was live it day by day. In reality they could opt out of the experiment at any given moment but they instead began to live in their roles as if they were truly prisoners and guards.

The massive turn of reality for these volunteers because so astounding in where these college students who had their own opinions about prison institutions now became those who abused power and those who came to hate the ones on the other side of the cell blocks. Prison has its own reality that leads to the abuse of power and the twist in the minds of petty thieves into people with hatred for those in abuse of power. Prison does not function as a place for rehabilitation and righting their wrongs but instead it switches the roles of prisoners and guards. The guards are now the people who are a danger to society and the prisoners the victims of their tyranny. Guards are given guidelines to follow but they imply their own definition of punishment without any consequences from outside influences because in their eyes they run the prison how they like and the prisoners inside it deserve their punishments. It becomes a twisted reality which doesn’t come to serve its purpose of institution and foundation it was built on.

Cannibalism in a society is deemed as radical and sinful, however when facing a great obstacle that determines your death or survival, it can be the only option left. In the crash of the F-227 plane the survivors were faced with the harsh reality of what their lives were to become over the next couple of weeks. The though of cannibalism isn’t something anyone ever has to come to think of to ensure their own survival, however when the question came of whether they chose to die or survive long enough to be rescued they each had a choice to make. They all looked at the concept of cannibalism as something ludicrous and unnecessary to survive. Although, when it came down to it they had to set aside the social norms they were raised upon to work towards a greater goal, their survival.

The survivors came to deconstruct everything they were told about cannibalism to make the thought of it easier to digest. The beliefs behind cannibalism were no longer there but instead they saw cannibalism as a way of survival. It wasn’t going to be permanent but instead only something that’ll make them stronger. They came to make their own norms around cannibalism to completely change the ideology of what it stood for surrounding all the negativity and disgraceful symbol that came with it. When creating a new norm for cannibalism, the survivors took something that was constructed to be sinful and made it to be the very thing that ensured they stayed alive. Just like cannibalism was made to be unappealing it was constructed to be their holy grail. The social construct of cannibalism came to be because it was declared to not be induced and carried a sinful symbol to it. This surviving team of rugby players just as easily contrasted amongst themselves that cannibalism was to be erased of its past judgement and instead focused on all the ways it benefit them. Still the held back because of what they previously believed but it became easier as time passed and they became accustomed to it just like society becomes accustomed to new norms set in motion because it was declared so. The ideology behind cannibalism and anything in society is so because we made it so and followed through for so many years that we don’t question it.

In thinking about my perfect wedding, I didn’t begin to map it out in my mind until I reached about 15 years of age. Up until then I never really gave it much thought nor did I give it thought that I would one day be married. For me it was never really in my interests to even waste my time thinking about something that seemed so far ahead. However, when I reached the age of 15 I began thinking about which kind of wedding I would want, how big, entertainment, food, cake, dress, I began to go through everything in detail in my mind and came up with this plan of what my wedding would sort of look like. After a while however, I began to lose interest in engulfing myself in so many details because I realized how much time I still have left. I realize that many things change and maybe my perspective of things change as well and I may not want the same wedding that 15 year old me planned out one day out of curiosity.

I realize now that while I still have sort of an idea of how I want the day to plan out, not everything will go according to plan. Perhaps because I was raised to see the perspective to focus on myself and my career before settling myself down in life with another person, I never saw the appeal of spending so much time thinking about a day that still has years to come. While I am a girl and girls have more of the stereotype to overthink their wedding day and to have it perfect, I rather look at it not as a day of perfection but as a day that I will remember being one of the more important days I will experience and that not everything has to be about perfection. The influences I receive from my parents and my economic status in the world has been a real eye-opener as to how reality really is and not to expect too much of what isn’t in my reach but rather to make the most of what I have now.

The model of the American family has changed significantly throughout the centuries. We see a typical American family as what is portrayed on television and films but the reality is that the average American family has been through several troubled situations that have put our society at risk. For example, survival rates for families were very low in the beginning of the 1900s. Many children were troubled and sought to the streets to survive and their survival rate alone was very low. Not only were children greatly affected by the struggles that that they faced in the streets alone, but it all originated from the troubles at home. Marriages were very loosely controlled and there were all forms of abused extending from domestic, drugs, verbal. Looking from the inside of the American family, there was not much to succeed from. There was no form of support from parents to children or from spouses to each other.

Many outside influences also led many families to blame the cause of the breakdown of their own families. Influences from the outside such as STDs, poverty, drugs caused many marriages to gradually crumble down stemming from unhappiness, spousal rape, addiction, abuse of each other. These influences caused many people to believe that things have not gotten any better today. However, in reality marriages today, while many do end in divorce, the rate of which causes the divorce is significantly less abusive and less harmful than the divorces from stressful situations. In today’s families, there is more success rate of surviving and not having to turn to the streets to maintain oneself. While divorce is still more of an option for a separation, divorces are less impactful to families in aspects of financially, emotionally damaging, and do not lead to the complete destruction of spouse and children connections. In today’s setting, American families have significantly improved even if many people are convinced it has not. While there are issues within families, there has been significant improvement for the benefit of all members of families. The issues we face today as families have come a long way for the better and success of everyone involved.