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Social distinctions and meaningful difference

It is inherent that society is primarily bound by culture and traditions. It is therefore an

established fact that racism will exist no matter how much we try to establish an understanding

of humans in terms of language, religion or social settings; this is the driving force behind all

forms of social distinctions. Social distinctions have various categories that may be based on

religion, race, culture or creed or gender; with each one having its own way of differencing itself

from others. Of all the social differences, racism and gender forms the prime source of all

distinctions. Other than that, language forms another social distinction which can be used as a

discourse to a contributing factor of behavior. We therefore behave within these parameters

which may be well ingrained into our social structure; and often we are unaware of how we think

and behave as an individual. ather most of our behavior is centered on a collectively social

structure. !herefore, we are programmed to act in a certain way unconsciously and perhaps

unintentionally. On the flip side of the coin we also have empathy based on how others are with

respect to how we are. When we are in a position of authority we tend to exhibit both an

authoritarian as well as the feeling of empathy for the other. "ence our social structured has been

established based on these pre#udices which we seem to have no power over. We as humans live

as a group with a certain strait of culture and traditions passed on by our forefathers. !herefore,

creating the right mix of culture, religion, caste and creed as well as gender is very difficult.

Society has to be in a constant state of difference, otherwise we would not be able to distinguish

ourselves for the rest of the party. $ut these distinctions can have very negative effects on

individuals, society and a nation as a whole. When we try to understand one another we try to

understand their language first. !his is because language creates the bridge between

communicating with a genre of peoples. $ut often before we begin to communicate we feel

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adversely affected by how they behave with each other that may be based on some kind of

background knowledge of society or a country. We tend to understand the opposite in terms of

the background knowledge we may possess and hence act accordingly. "owever, there may be

other pre#udices that may exist within a social setting itself. "uman beings, although being

highly sociali%ed and individuali%ed are strictly bound to culture and traditions as an

individuali%ed group. $y individuali%ed group I infer that they feel they have identified that right

social mix and can therefore make meaningful differences to set themselves apart from the lot.

&ach society thinks that they are highly individuali%ed as a group and that they have the right

mix to create the utopic society above everyone else. !hey may include many pre#udices such as

superiority in race, language, religion, caste, creed, ethos, gender and even technology. "owever,

who is right or wrong can be measured on how they interact with other social settings apart from

their own depends on how much we learn about each other and how much we respect each

other's social settings and ethos no matter how diverse it may be from ours. !here may be very

large differences in culture or very small differences, but it depends on how we accept them and

adopt the best of each. $ut on the contrary, some differences are too vague and large to create

conflict and social disruption. Our social pre#udices are such that what is good for us may not be

good for others and vice versa. "ence when we try to learn about a culture it is important that we

learn its language and social settings to create congenial relationship to bind with one another.

!his is how we are then able to exchange ideas and appreciate each other.

$ut even with then there exist a great diversity of social difference within the framework of a

society within itself. ( nation consists of diverse groups of people with diverse social settings but

sometimes there could be a conflict of class, gender or religion within each society's framework

itself. )anguage then, alone cannot cope up with these differences. !he strongest differences

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found among peoples is tradition. ( particular type of society may be strictly bound to tradition

and may use a mix of other pre#udices such as include religious doctrines affixed within the

cultural framework. *or instance, the gender difference in a male dominated society. Women in

every society are sub#ect to discrimination whether it be in the &ast or the West, it is the same

everywhere but we often try to make some kind of meaningful difference to it. Women Islam are

truly given e+ual rights but it's the machismo effect that creates the conflict in a Islamic male

dominated society. en make laws and women #ust need to follow is the social underpinning of

an Islamic society. !herefore, Islam is not wrong, the problem of women being given e+ual

rights and #ustice is mainly bound by culture and tradition. Other &astern culture of different

religion have the same type of pre#udice and are no different from the religious point of view.

Other culture may use religion, yet others may employ other forms to discriminate women from

men. !he West is also no different, although women are given rights but, are those rights

#ustified. In the West, women may be used as ob#ects of fancy. Why do women need to be used in

advertisements targeted for males- Somewhere and somehow there is discrimination. In the

&astern culture why are women considered as ob#ects of sale as seen in some pushtun tribes.

irls are ob#ects of sale and males need to have the money to buy them. !herefore, it's not the

religion that is the problem, it is the culture and the traditions that are causing such discourses in

the fabric of what is known as an Islamic culture. Similarly, in other modern cultures women are

differentiated in different ways, such as in the case of women athletes. It is a fact that athletes

want to become famous for the reason that they may be appreciated in society as in other fields

of sport, acting or likewise. "ere too, It has been found that women are highly discriminated and

that male are more dominant that females and want to be more recogni%ed than women. We tend

to take an adverse turn when we see a successful woman above men. !his is the reason why there

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are so little firms where women are not /&O's of large firms. ales think that women are simply

incapable and take this dictum for granted. "owever, there are other pre#udices in society apart

from gender. /olor and ethnicity too plays an important role in the social distinction. ( white

man may not be friends with a black or likewise. the preference is purely based on social

acceptance and re#ection of a particular sect. In addition, racism is one of the most dominant

pre#udice of all. We tend to base our existence on the premise of race. (nd the more superior we

become in terms of knowledge and technology we tend to separate ourselves out of the

framework and create our own space and hence place forward a reasonable meaningful

difference. We act then according the how we view things and therefore stop ourselves from

accepting other cultures and their norms. Infact, as we become a superior race, we tend to

enforce these norms on other races which again brings us to the same point, that the more we

distinguish ourselves the more we tend to create that conflict and hence the cycle of social

distinction becomes even more complex and conflicting in the long run.