Socks keep your shoes from absorbing sweat and help prevent blisters. They’re useful beyond the social construct.
Not wearing stinky shoes is a social construct.
Arguments like these don’t work with kids. Let them experience themselves what is best for them. And have spare socks ready in case they change their mind afterwards
Sure, if that's a reasonable option, but letting the kid hurt themselves isn't always practical. Letting the kids find out 'messing with the pot of boiling water is bad' the hard way, as an example, is not what I would consider good parenting.
I think it's pretty clear they're referring to uncomfortable stuff, not dangerous stuff. Obviously don't let them do dangerous stuff.
Ok but wearing shoes is a social construct. People didn't wear shoes for thousands of years before shoes came along and they were just fine and full of blisters.
Wearing shoes is definitely not just a social construct. They protect your feet.
Next time the kid asks for an allowance, say that money is a social construct
"You've made a correct observation, now please provide an argument why the social construct of x should not be adhered to. X is dumb and I don't wanna is not sufficient."
Those sound like good enough reasons to me
I think something being dumb is a perfectly valid reason to not do the thing.
"it's just dumb" is as valid of an argument as "it just makes sense". You need a thesis along the lines of "X happens because Y".
They get that from their stuffed tiger.
Something being a social construct doesn't mean it's not real, or ignoring it won't negatively affect you.
Laws, money, etc. are all social constructs.
This would be a great time to remind him that we live in a society...
Nah, kinda the worst time really. Take a good look at society right now and one could argue we utterly failed and should reject it.
Socks serve a practical purpose when combined with shoes. They prevent rubbing (blisters) and they keep the skin cells and oils from your feet from the insides of your shoes.
Shoes serve a practical purpose in that they protect your feet from rocks, glass, and hot pavement. Did our ancestors need shoes? No. But humans have made our environments less friendly to bare feet
Our ancestors DID need shoes. Footprints in South Africa dated to be between 75K and 136K years old show footwear in use. We invented shoes possibly 100,000 years before we invented written language.
What are you talking about? The oldest shoe we've found is roughly 10000 years old.
Our ancestors absolutely needed shoes. That's why they made them.
Some social constructs serve a purpose.
I like Max Stirner's perspective. Like you said, they can be useful - but we can also give them too much authority over us. It's important to be aware of that.
"Sure socks are a social construct, but so are the things that let you eat ice cream, watch your favorite streaming service, or play your favorite video game. In fact the only non-social construct actions you involve yourself in are eating, sleeping, and expelling bio waste. Even those you seem to have no problem follow the social rules around. If you'd like to abandon society and escape into nature free of the bounds of social constructs, you're welcome to do that when you're 18 and can afford enough to buy a plane ticket to Fairbanks, Alaska. Until then, you have to put on your socks."
Good point, kid, and here’s another one: those toys you want me to buy you are a social construct. Playtime? Yep. Social construct. Shall I keep going? Video games are next.
Having a shit is a natural process, however doing it privately in toilets is nowadays somewhat of a social construct.
So, should I stop using the toilet and use your bed instead?
(Edit: I didn't think I needed to add an /s but...)
Not accepting every social construct isn't the same as rejecting every social construct.
'Your allowance is a social construct, so I guess we won't be doing that anymore..."
"Yes, but that doesn't automatically mean it's wrong or a bad thing.
The next time they say “Socks are a social construct.” Tell them that blisters are punishment for man’s hubris.
It is a social construct, and we live in a society… so put your damn socks on
Reminds me of the time I saw people arguing on Reddit about the phrase "time is a social construct" where some people were completely incapable of understanding what that means and conflating the concept of time with the fundamental physics thingymcgee (idk how to call it and entity feels wrong).
People were trying so hard to explain that minutes, months, seasons, etc. are all arbitrary things made up only for them to retort with "but a year is a full rotation of the sun" or "seasons exist because that's how the planet changes its climate".
Just because something is a social construct doesn't mean it's a bad thing to be ignored.
Being alive is a social construct. Humans decided that some things counted as alive, and other things did not. Nature doesn't care if a bunch of chemical reactions are happening inside a cell, or in a glass tube. It has no objective definition of "alive".
everyone replying that socks have a practical use, as if social constructs arent practical???
my issue is that even though "clothing" is a social construct, the stuff that socks are made out of is not. calling that stuff a sock is a social construct, but choosing to put the fabric on your body is not. becoming "clothed" is a social construct, but the unspecified uncategorized state of having that fabric on your body is just a physical state, not a construct. the meaning we apply to it is the thing that wouldn't exist without socially constructed systems of meaning.
It's kinda sad, i guess. I'm usually the first one to champion XYZ is a social construct, and have to deal with morons not understanding it, but here? no one is willing to say it?
Socks are not a social construct.
Parents feeding their kids is also a social construct. The Ancients tossed their kids in the salt mines quite early.
Very, good. That’s correct. However social constructs have consequences for non-adherence. As much as I agree with and wold like to support your stance, this is not something for which I’m willing to invest my energy or time to resolve.
Your compliance and the requirement from me, the adult, to you the child; yep, this sucks. When I’m no longer charged with your care and have completed my duty to prepare you to operate with the constructs of society, you may make this decision for yourself.
Until that time, you can put your socks on, or I will. Your choice. Love you.
In the other vein of this, I hate sock and shoes, so I’m pretty much good with skipping all of this. There are consequences that come with that decision too.
I let my kid go all flower child about the socks. he got athletes foot. Socks SPECIFICALLY are not a social construct. they prevent athletes foot.
Hygiene IS a social construct, but that doesn't mean it isn't there for a good reason.
Having a parent who clothes and feeds you is a social construct too. Funny how people think that "social construct" means that something is bad or should be dismissed when none of us would be here without social constructs.
At least this time the argument is being made by the only age group where I would give them a pass for being stupid. Unless that kid is past the age of 12, that is.
I think the point is the fact it's a social construct on its own is neither pro or against the thing itself, rather that it can/should be able to be questioned.
Yes wearing socks is a social construct, but it provides inherent benefits such as reducing the smell produced by your feet and lingering in the shoes. It also helps protect your feet further in some ways then just a shoe alone would.
Not that I advocate violence, but not beating your kids, selling them on the street, or making them work in a factory is also a social contract.
As someone that grew up hating socks (parents only bought the ones with a thick seam at the toe), yes, the requirement to wear socks is a social construct. There are other ways to avoid smelly feet.
Currently, I wear shoes with washable insoles and I have multiple sets of these insoles. I also rotate between shoes, and these shoes can also go in the wash.
I do wear (nice, seamless) socks when I go hiking, but for day-to-day at the office they're unnecessary.
"Attitudes against smacking children are also a social construct..."
And this is why right-wingers want teaching this shit banned in schools.
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