Can Music Help Break Social Norms?
We are largely shaped by social factors. Strict social norms determine normality’s in our day to day lives dictating many of our actions, thoughts, and behaviors. Humans want to instinctively belong and going against certain social norms is often uncomfortable and at times can be quite a dangerous endeavor. However, music can serve to expose us to ideas and ways of thinking to combat those norms and normalize things that we may once have considered taboo.
Music has been at the forefront of social change for a long time. Artists often sing about topics that are going on in their lives, exposing members of society to another life. Without this exposure, a person might not otherwise know about aspects in people’s lives that are drastically different from their own. In a way, music opens doors to ideas and experiences that would have been closed off to others.
Social injustices are, sadly, still prevalent not only on our society but throughout the world. Many musicians have tried to tackle these issues by creating songs. These songs promote awareness and are just one of many ways light can be cast on a social issue. One famous example is a song called Black or White by Michael Jackson. As you can probably guess the song discussed racism and how a person’s race isn’t a factor when it comes who he would befriend. It’s troubling that social issues of immense magnitude still exist, but we are making significant steps forward. No matter how bleak it seems in the moment remember how far we’ve come already.
While we may be a long way from living in a world completely free of discrimination, injustice, and inequality, we must keep pushing society towards greater social acceptance in order to see real change.
“Music can change the world because it can change people.” ― Bono