Greeting Cards And Their Power

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Greeting Cards and Their Power
Today’s greeting cards portray many of our society’s norms. For example, norms about age are portrayed. Many norms are portrayed by greeting cards, such as family, age, illness, and gender. Many of these cards can also make certain groups or a behavior of people seem deviant. Greeting cards have the power to establish social norms and also make a behavior or person appear deviant.

I found a card on a printing program on my computer. The card had two leprechauns standing beside a building and the word "beer" written in big letters across the top. The inside of the card says, "Essential Building Block for strong muscles and bones! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!" There is also a laughing leprechaun inside the card. This card illustrates the norm of drinking on St. Patrick’s Day and in general. In a way, it also implies that Irish people are supposed to drink a lot. Drinking is definitely a norm some of our society holds. In a lot of areas, it is acceptable and pretty much expected to have a drink every day, as long as you do not drink in the morning. Drinking in the morning places an "alcoholic" label on people. It is also a common expectation that Irish people drink a good bit. People who do not follow these norms appear to be deviant.
Based on the card I found, if you do not drink on St. Patrick’s Day, or you are Irish and do not drink, then you are deviant. Greeting cards like this, along with other forms of media, are one of the reasons our society expects people to drink. It appears to be the "cool" thing to do and our society has conditioned us to want to do the "cool" thing and fit in. Most people do not want to be deviant. They want to follow the norms, such as the ones this greeting card establishes. I do not agree with this card. I am part Irish and so is most of my family and we do not drink. I also do not drink on St. Patrick’s Day and most people I know do not e...