Societal Expectations

Expectation. Expectation is an interesting word. A women’s acceptance is based not only on personal expectations but also on expectations of society. Women in particular, make an art of it in their behavior, their outlook, their sense of style and their overall presentation.

The question is, are these expectations necessary to be accepted by the opposite gender in society as equal, or as an aspect of competition of the same gender. 

Miley Cyrus is a prime example of this conflict. One wonders if her expectations were geared towards attaining male attention, or standing out as a woman. In either case, she left her mark on society. 

To some, such behavior is shocking; to others it could be nothing but a form of art. In any event, societal expectations were tampered with.  

In There Is No Unmarked Woman, by Deborah Tannen, there are expectations created by society for women such as the type of outer apparel – makeup and hairstyles – which are seldom used in evaluating males. Tannen details the various ways society has pressured females to bow towards societal expectations. For example, Tannen describes how women have many titles such as, ‘Mrs.’, ‘Ms.’, and ‘Miss,’ whereas men only have one: ‘Mr.’ Women mark themselves by applying different expectations of society in their outward persona.

Expectations dictate women’s lives and will continue to do so. Men can escape its clutches but women fall into deeply dug out historical crevices in which they are marked and scrutinized whether they like it, or not.