Cover by Sophie Kember
Meet the Team
Lara
Bella
Hannah
Alex
Zack
Kyle
Jessal
Laina
Sophie
Social Norms ‘Social Norms,’ what does this term mean? Social Norms are unstated rules in which how you should behave or act in society. They are things that are treated as common/ acceptable within a culture or group. Social norms can be as simple as burping out loud or picking your nose in public. They can also be as normal as how one should dress in public or as random as leaving at least a space gap between urinals. These are some of many examples of social norms. Social norms can be created or changed depending on the group but also as time progresses. The aim of social norms are generally to keep us in line within society and to be respectful towards other people. Overall I guess most of us would consider social norms to be a good thing and that they have a place in society. Mostly they are a good thing. However one detriment to social norms, and what most people see to be a slight issue is the idea of conformity. If we act within the social norms then there is the idea that we are constricting ourselves of what we would do naturally and instead are just conforming to society. Personally, the idea of social norms annoy me. I mean who likes the idea of conformity? But in reality social norms are good as it leads to you treating people with respect and in turn let people respect you. Jessal Suresh Have any thoughts on conformity or social norms? Tweet @avra_zine or use the #avrasocialnorms to share them.
Hi there, before you get put off by the font of this text or how cringey this introduction is, please give me a solid 510 minutes to express my views on the social norms. I’m not a very good writer, I get words and spellings mixed up, but please this may change your view as well. Anyway, the things you should know about me; I’m a seventeen year old female who is also a feminist. Please to the people who are shocked by this word; hear me out then you can curse at this article or make any other valid points that you have against feminism. Anyway, I’m getting side tracked. Some people have the concept of feminism mixed up, for example some believe that feminism means that girls want to rule the world; well no, we just want common respect just as anyone else desires. It is also means men’s rights. For example, MEN how many times have you thrown a ball and someone made a comment saying:”Oh, you throw like a girl” or something along those lines. Do men feel insulted by this? Do men feel as insulted as women do by this? It is a completely useless statement, because last time I checked throwing “like a girl” has nothing to do with a woman’s characteristics or being a woman at all. I would just like to point out, that this article or whatever you would like to call it; is not about feminism.
Social Norms of Men and Women This is not what I plan to discuss with you today. It was a taster, now to get onto the “main course.” So, in some way or another, social norms have affected you. However, how they may have affected you is a very large subject to talk about because there is so much to talk about. However, I will be discussing with you the social norms on how you may or may not dress To the males who wish to wear skirts or dresses but feel afraid to wear them, why are you so scared or anxious about it? Another point to make about this is the males who like to change the colour of their hair. For example, my brother, who changed the colour of his hair to blonde with purple and blue striped hair, is automatically assumed that he wants to be a female or is gay. These social norms which are created by society needs to stop. People need to realise that just because someone dresses differently
to how you may dress does not make them a bad person; or it doesn't make them any different to you. And just because they may be styling their hair left or right instead of straight or putting on a dress or trousers does not mean that you have any more power over them. Let people be who they want to be, help them be more confident with what they wear. And maybe, just maybe, instead of judging someone on what they wear; compliment them. Making people happy rather than sad does no harm to you and will make their selfesteem just that little bit higher. Don't judge a blank page, and learn to love the people around you.
Article by Bella Fernandez, Photo by Hannah Grieve, Graphics by Lara Antoine
So you've reached another important part of your life. The terrifyingly exciting opportunity to go to secondary school or college. You'll be faced with a whole plethora of selfinduced questions like 'What do I wear on nonuniform days?' 'Will I fit in?' This is where we come in one of our aims is to help you guys feel more comfortable with yourselves especially nowadays where we live in the 'digital age' where everyone seems to have these perfect lives and the perfect body and the perfect clothes. We all seem to be striving for a societal perfection. A constricting perfection. A perfection that if we fall too deep into its trap will consume us in mindless conflict instead of enabling us to be the freespirited individuals that we truly are. Now I'm not saying society is wholly bad. Our generation has done some good things, we are the generation aiding the rapid changes in technology. However, from experience, I can say that it's so easy to be sucked into a consumerist world. More so, from a secondary school perspective than for college, if you didn't have designer clothes like Hollister, Superdry & Jack Wills you were almost isolated. Personally I am not a fan of wearing clothes simply for showing that you have the brand but there was a point where I felt if I didn't own any of these things then I was just weird. If you feel this way, you are not simply an outcast. You don't need to feel like this. As everyone says it’s not going to be the same in your next stage of life but, if you feel some kind of ‘social security’ and you’re happy then stick with it. But if you’re conforming and know deepdown that you’re not comfortable then for the sake of your own health you need to slowly begin to break away from it. Sometimes it happens naturally. You’ll gradually unleash things that define you in an effort to create yourself, your confidence will grow and you’ll feel better within yourself. I’m not just saying this as empty words; at the beginning of secondary school, it used to bother me quite a bit but as I’ve moved on to college I’ve slowly begun to find my own style. Absolutely terrified at first walking through the hallways but I eventually became comfortable with it and my confidence has grown. So have faith with it and always do what makes you feel comfortable and happy! By Lara Antoine
Our Beliefs vs Society; Everyone is different
Some people are better believers than others. This is a simple rational idea that everyone is born with different backgrounds and so their way of living affects their behaviour and even more so on their beliefs. As UK Citizens we have seen a lot of variety in our surroundings: some are destined to grow up with strong religious families, some would have a more chilled family background, and lastly some would be born in families where their parents will not even bother about the beliefs they have. What is most comfortable out of the three scenarios is up to us to decide. Beliefs can be anything from believing that a certain clothing brand is better than the rest, or believing that a certain person is deserving to be class president than other candidates. I can assure you the pressure is at its max when you are at school/college/uni or even at work. We get to see scenarios that are against our beliefs and so we begin to question if quantity beats our faith(for example) "if everybody is doing it and aren't getting major punishment for it, then there maybe no harm in copying them." Sooner or later we will do it and go "what's the worse that could happen". The next thing we know, a habit is formed and our beliefs are contaminated by society. There are also bigger general beliefs like religion. As a person that goes to church, they would set rules like "no drinking/partying" or even banning homosexuality as it is considered as a sin in the bible.
These extremities make me think twice of my faith. Some say that homosexuality is just a test our faith and some argue that the interpretations in the bible are out of date. Whatever it is, I believe that in this society, those things aren't and shouldn't be considered "sins" because all we really are doing is respecting one another. The same goes with partying: I do believe that a little social gathering with drinks aren't harmful. It will only become harmful if someone made it to be. I do get let down by my faith at times because I seem to follow it halfheartedly. But like I said, everyone applies their beliefs differently. I know a lot of people that are on different levels with their faith and are still share other similar interests. No one should be discouraged and compare ourselves to their beliefs because each and everyone of us experience different things and so have different viewpoints of these things.I think the worse scenario is to judge them. Our beliefs are who we made ourselves to be. If a person feels insecure about their beliefs then the damage is done. It is important to find out what we stand for, even if this changes over time. Respect is the biggest value to practice especially in this diverse society. Imagine a country without any judgement on the different races and their beliefs. There would be less pressure and there would be more harmony, don't you think?
Photos by Hannah Grieve & Alex Anderson , Article by Kyle Duyungan
By Laina Deene
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Contributors Social Media
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Twitter: @larajklmnop Instagram: @lxrajklmnop Facebook: Lara jklmnop Blog: www.larajklmnop.blogspot.co.uk Thank you for reading the debut issue of AVRA! We hope you liked it! :D Issue #2 will be on Fear: xenophobia, homophobia, fear & faith etc. If you would like to contribute to this zine email: avra.zine@gmail.com More details to be published on our website. Deadline: 15th December 2016