And sometimes communities do in fact have explicit “preferences” that will cost people status just by having different ones. It might even be costly to find out what those diffuse preferences are, and especially daunting for people new to a community.
Could you please give some examples of this? It is unclear to me what kind of things you are talking about here.
Sure. So, there are some workplaces have implicit cultural norms that aren’t written down but are crucial for career advancement. Always being available and responding to emails quickly might be an unspoken expectation, or participating in after-work social events might not be mandatory but would be noted and count against people looking for promotion. Certain dress codes or communication styles might be rewarded or penalized beyond their actual professional relevance.
In a community, this usually comes as a form of purity testing of some kind, but can also be related to preferences around how you socialize or what you spend your time doing. If you’re in a community that thinks sex-work is low status, for example, and you want to ask if that’s true… just asking might in fact be costly, because it might clue people in to your potential interest in doing it.
Could you please give some examples of this? It is unclear to me what kind of things you are talking about here.
Sure. So, there are some workplaces have implicit cultural norms that aren’t written down but are crucial for career advancement. Always being available and responding to emails quickly might be an unspoken expectation, or participating in after-work social events might not be mandatory but would be noted and count against people looking for promotion. Certain dress codes or communication styles might be rewarded or penalized beyond their actual professional relevance.
In a community, this usually comes as a form of purity testing of some kind, but can also be related to preferences around how you socialize or what you spend your time doing. If you’re in a community that thinks sex-work is low status, for example, and you want to ask if that’s true… just asking might in fact be costly, because it might clue people in to your potential interest in doing it.
Does that make sense?
Yes. Thanks. Good explanation.