TikToK - Spencer Barbosa. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2025, from https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP82h5Ust/

This video depicts a creator violating social norms on the female body and expressing that there is not one body that is a “healthy” body. The norm that for a woman a healthy body should be lean and be very skinny is not realistic and is also a sexist norm as men who have a lot of muscle and are bulky are seen as “healthy” and fit. The reality of this normal is the female and male bodies are designed differently for different purposes. They are not meant to look the same so a “healthy” female body will not look the same as a “healthy” male body because there are different functions of each genders body parts for example; birth.

Dismantling gender walls in the construction industry - Jackson Lewis. (2023, September 28). Jackson Lewis. Retrieved March 10, 2025, from https://www.jacksonlewis.com/insights/dismantling-gender-walls-construction-industry

Research conducted on gender in the construction field finds that there is a definite divide between female and male presence. The construction field is tainted with this toxic masculinity in that it’s a man’s job because you have to be strong and tough and there is no way that a woman could enter this field. This caused women to feel out-numbered and less likely to want to choose this career path. This ideal is now being challenged as some more women begin to enter the construction career.

GoodRx. (2024, September 2). How gender affirmation surgery Improves Mental Health: Emily’s story | GoodRX [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO2kA01jqIg

During lecture and the outline we learned about gender assignment, gender identity, and gender expression. This video dives deeper into the aspects that are affected with being Transgender. When someone identifies as being transgender they have options for gender affirming surgery which can help that individual align their bodies with how they feel. This surgery can have more impacts than just on their physical bodies and can really help those individuals feel more welcomed by communities and feel more comfortable with themselves.

The writing in this song conveys the idea of general social norms in that women have to be something but also have to be the contradicting characteristic. One line that really expresses this to me is “And I am built like a mother and a total machine.” This is stating that a woman must look feminine and loving but also never get tired and never stop working. This leans into the “performative” aspect of what society believes femininity should be, looking fit/skinny, alright with offensive jokes, and be optimistic in every situation. Throughout the song Olivia expresses her rage over these norms and how people tell her she is supposed to act that she is almost making fun of the norms.

Meredith, R. (2024, November 7). “Easier to reveal sexuality than faith,” Education Committee told. Retrieved March 10, 2025, from https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8l614431zo

This article on the acceptance of religion versus sexuality compares how comfortable the incoming generation feels to reveal these characteristics of their life. The shocking discovery that people are found to find it more accepting for them to reveal their sexuality rather than that they are religious is a very different outcome than most would imagine. The duality of these factors are seen to be both ones that are highly judged but to the new generation the sexuality is more expected compared to in the older generation it would be more accepted and even praised to be religious. These are two social factors that are intertwined highly because of religious views on sexuality and what sexuality the religion deems acceptable.

Kcrw, D. C. (2024, November 6). California and Colorado protect same-sex marriage. Hawaii results still to come. WWNO. https://www.wwno.org/2024-11-06/california-and-colorado-protect-same-sex-marriage-hawaii-results-still-to-come

The laws surrounding same sex marriage contribute to the sexual self-schemas on the macro level. These can influence the decisions and feelings of people regarding their sexuality. The protection of these laws are essential for those in or potentially going to be in same-sex marriages and the acceptance that those are valid marriages by the courts can influence the future of same-sex marriage. If these laws take away same-sex marriage it will put a restriction on a variety of people and if their marriage is seen as an “actual” marriage by the legal system.

Adamczeski, R. (2025, January 27). Michigan adds LGBTQ+ identities to hate crime law. Advocate.com. https://www.advocate.com/politics/michigan-lgbtq-hate-crime-law

This article goes through the newly added categories to the hate crime law in Michigan. They added sexual orientation and gender identity because it is becoming a growing issue for people to have hate crimes happen to them because of these identifiers. There are so many new and different aspects of Sexual Orientation that people don’t understand and that has lead to violence with those that do not agree or understand these aspects. People who go against the social norm of Heteronormativity and believe that gender is on a spectrum and not just defined by two genders are those who are experiencing these hate crimes.

Mattia Sasso. (2021, August 29). But you don’t look gay (original tik tok) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV8FKrM44to

This sound that is shown in this TikTok was trending for awhile in order to make fun of people for saying that a person’s outward appearance doesn’t match their identity. The original video says that the person doesn’t look gay outwardly so then the person changes their voice and the verbiage to match the societal norm. This trend was very impactful with sexuality norms as well as racial, career, and religious norms. This trend challenged the stereotypes that were placed on those of a minority who did not fit the “norm” that people would expect.

This image demonstrates the communication social norms for communication between females and males. The male has his hand on her neck showing power and dominance over her and he appears to be talking down to her in an authoritative manner. The female is looking straight ahead with compliance and her face does not show any emotion in a polite manner or out of fear. The communication norms in this scene set the standard for what society expects the genders to act during this act.

In ‘other’ news: Can coverage be balanced when it comes to race, gender? (2024, August 6). College of Media, Communication and Information. Retrieved March 10, 2025, from https://www.colorado.edu/cmci/news/2024/08/06/journalism-trump-nabj-racism-chuang

The opportunity for women and specifically women of different races to get to attend political events are lower than those of the typical white male. This decreases the representation of all point of views and does not show all ideas on the topic regarding different genders and races. This leads to information that may not be of interest to those of the “norm” to not get reported on and that leads to uninformed voters. The importance of diversity in politics to ensure that minorities are heard includes these two social aspects as well as many others.

This graphic shows the percentage of actors that have speaking roles in media. There is a definite difference between male and female roles that are getting to have a voice in media. This representation is not fair to females as their voice is equally as important to male voices. For children who grow up watching this and seeing these people as role models this leads to an unrealistic ideal that females shouldn’t get the same amount of attention in media as males. Regarding gender representation if there are already more males represented in media than females and more males get speaking roles then females are more outnumbered.

Sky Walk. (2020, March 17). Megan Fox Iconic Car Scene - Transformers: (2007) HD [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqWuCsHKZU0

This clip of Megan Fox clearly depicts the male gaze in media and is known to be an iconic clip in which young males remember from the Transformers movie. The character is shown in very low rise bottoms and a cropped shirt to show her midriff. She is then seen to be helped because of her looks and is perceived as oblivious. After the car stops working she goes to work on it and the camera pans up her body as she is leaning over the car and she is even talking about how she pretends to not know about cars because her previous boyfriends didn’t like that she knew more about cars than them. The male gaze sexualized her knowledge about cars and objectified her.

Jones, A. (2025, February 5). Bridgerton’s Author Explains Important Difference Between “Race-Blind Casting” And “Color-Conscious Casting” While… CINEMABLEND. Retrieved March 10, 2025, from https://www.cinemablend.com/streaming-news/bridgerton-julia-quinn-explains-important-difference-between-race-blind-color-conscious-casting-netflix-diverse-ensemble#

When the series first aired there was a lot of controversy regarding the racial aspects of the casting and the directors came out and said that their casting was not a random choice but was very well thought out. Race-blind casting is when the race of the actor is not taken into account in any manner. This has been seen in many new renditions of films in which race is interchanged between the original and the remake. This is done to create a more diverse cast and to only take into account the actors skills to prevent discrimination in media.

High School Musical. (2022, June 21). Ryan’s Best Moments | High School musical [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxXKJX_R-Xw

Ryan in High School Musical is the gay brother to Sharpay who is a main character in the film. Ryan is seen in many clips spying or sabotaging people in the film to get what he or his sister want. This clearly demonstrates the LGBTQIA+ community in film stereotypes and puts the gay character in the villain position. Ryan’s character being gay is also executed in a very social norm way with the higher voice, liking pink, and hanging out with the girls and doing “girl” activities like theater.