By Jolaynie Bonito
Behavior has several definitions. It could be defined as the way in which one acts or conducts oneself, especially towards others or the way in which an animal or person acts in response to a particular situation or stimulus or the way in which a natural phenomenon or a machine works or functions. A sign is an object, quality, or event whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else.
So a behavioral sign must be defined as an indication that someone is acting a certain way in response to something else in its environment.
Behavioral signs in this text basically means that in society we behave a certain way that can be perceived as beautiful. The way we behave became something as a part of our routine. If someone did something that could possibly be viewed as “ugly”, it would hinder that person in the “productive – reproductive routine”. In today’s society everything is determined and very precise, everyone plans out what their next step is going to be and how to look better than the next person. It is constantly happening all around us with the help of social media and advertisement of both men and women who fit a certain description of “beauty”.
I could not agree more that society is constantly pushing on us to fit a certain description of “beauty” and how everyone is trying to be better than the next person. Your implication that everyone is always trying to behave in a way that fits into the mold of “beauty” is truly eye-opening.
You had a simple yet very clear explanation of what behavioral signs mean in general first. This set solid base in order to understand what the author meant in terms of certain responses of people to different environmental factors and it made sense why he would use this choice of words to convey his idea.
I really like how you split the definition into two separate parts, only to combine them later to get a clearer and much better understanding of the phrase a whole. It doesn’t seem like much, but it really shows the root of how you came to your conclusions. And yes, I do agree that social media is a very big “help” in how we act.
I also liked the way you organized your definition into two sections and then brought it all together. When I first read the article, I had not thought of this simple phrase with as much detail as you. Your post helped me understand the article more and also in a deeper sense and it was also a good post to read.