On side-eyes and face scrunches

Social control can be understood simply as “efforts to ensure conformity to the norms” of society. This is all one needs to begin exploring the idea. When an observable action is taken by a person to get someone else to adopt or maintain their social norms, we can call that a form of social control. Praise, a promotion, spanking, and ostracism are all forms of social control meant to encourage or discourage adherence to folkways, mores, taboos, or laws.

When I say “observable,” I am referring to the idea that the behavior needs to be overt — something that can be detected. This may seem obvious, but it is worth noting. Suppose I am walking down the street and witness catcalling from two or three adolescent boys toward a girl in their age range. If I recognize the behavior as sexual harassment and merely think to myself that it is wrong, that is not a form of social control. If I go home angry and write about it in my personal journal, that is also not social control. However, if I give the group of boys a side-eye as I walk by or write an opinion piece for a local newspaper calling out this behavior, then my actions constitute social control.

My side-eye may not be particularly effective in inducing conformity, but it is an observable signal to my audience — the boys and even those nearby witnessing the interaction — that I hold different expectations for behavior in that context. I believe that girls should be able to walk down the street without having profanity-laced, vulgar comments hurled at them, and the boys know they have…