How we are shaped by social context, and why it matters

I have been fortunate enough to study somatics/embodiment with the greats - Staci Haines, Richard Strozzi Heckler and  Andrea Alexander.  I am still under their care as an apprentice. This experience is a lifelong journey of deep discovery into the wisdom of not just our mind-body connection, but how we connect deeply beyond words, we have so much more reach than within the boundaries of our skin. The work also regenerated my deep connection to land & spirit, connecting to the vastness and mystery of something so much bigger than us. Despite how magnificent we may be, we are pretty tiny standing in the wisdom of the cosmos and the arms of Mother Nature.

Soma is a Greek word for wholeness. We are mind/body/spirit/rational social beings. Our embodiment, our ‘shape’ is developed in interaction with our life experiences and our environments.   Our stories, behaviours, traumas, belief patterns and those of our ancestors are stored in our somas. Our nervous system is always tracking for safety and connection way ahead of our cognitive thinking. 

Our environment, culture, social norms and organisations shape us whether we serve to acknowledge it or not.  Most of our world views are shaped by our privilege, consciously and unconsciously whether we like it or not. 

Our ways of living today have mostly scrubbed out our ancestors’ traditions and cultures, rites of passage and connection to self and have been replaced with survival strategies, objectivation of the body and continuous growth over an equitable society. While this comes across as well - devastating, not all is lost. This is not who we are, at heart. We have embodied practices over time via social norms and historical forces and together, we can undo them.

The relationship with customers is transitioning from ‘participant’ or ‘end user’ towards building continuous connection, where we are in deep respect to those who courageously step into a design space and co-create with us. Sharing, their time, experiences, heartaches, and contributions is humbling, it’s a journey together. 

To be in gratitude, it is important to be aware of how we are shaped by economic, political and historical forces, and how our shaping may be different to those we are designing with and for. 

I came across a model ‘sites of shaping/sites of change’ via Staci Haines/ Generative Somatics.  It is originally based on a public health model to stop the spread of HIV Aids and Generative5, to understand the multiple layers of child sex abuse. This framework helps us understand ourselves and who we may be designing for in the broader social contexts that shape them. It also helps us understand what we may take for granted or be completely blinded to because of our privilege. Outside of understanding our shaping, it is a strategic transformation tool.  As each site grows bigger, it is harder to create change. We need more people, change makers, organisers, designers and policymakers.

I first used this model to understand my shaping, then as a coaching tool and experimentally as a design tool. From my experience, the tool can support work across different cultures, genders and other social group memberships with great humility and deeper understanding. It can faciliate a deep sense of analysis of ourselves and our biases and potentialy opens new customer sub-segments where we can offer the right services to the right people within the right context because we have a greater understanding of their shaping and holistic needs. A social context can help us understand what needs changing. 

How the model works is at each level, is we start to question the ways by which we have been shaped by each of these sites. Each site incorporates social norms.

Starting with the individual, what constitution were you born with? Different cultures interrupt this differently. Some say it is all genetics. Others say it depends on the safety of the mother and the nature of the community. Some say it is a result of reincarnation. We could start by asking ourselves, what did I come into this world with? 

Moving out to family, these are the people we are part of or form close bonds with in our youth and family lives.  How were you shaped by your family of origin? What gender norms played out? What did you learn about safety, belonging and dignity?  How were the social norms of that time, taught to you through family? 

Popping out to community. This can be many things such as the region or place you grew up and live as well as connected to what you practice (yoga, gardening, martial arts), racial or cultural identity (Australian Indigenous, Jewish, Arab, Irish) and sexual orientation (queer, trans, LGBT) Most of us have several communities, what collective shape did your first communities embody (working or middle class, regional or city)? What about the transition to adulthood away from your family of origin? Most of us have a number of communities by which we are shaped by. 

Moving out to Institutions. Institutions are larger systems that impact many people and communities. This includes Universities, Financial institutions, Superannuation, Private Education, The Media, Corporations, Agribusiness, Prisons, Mining, Tech.  Some of our institutions are based with a power over (as opposed to power with) paradigm, we are shaped by a Capitalist society, whether we like it not.  I don't like fossil fuels but it still delivers food to my local grocery store. Consider two institutions that have shaped you. How have they in anyway shaped your ideas and actions? What parts are good and what may cultivate oppression? Systemically, what connections do you see across institutions? 

Social norms and Historical forces. Social norms are the definitions of reality we are contextually placed in. What/who is considered the ‘norm’, ok or not ok?  What are the collective stories we live in? Historical forces are the trends of history that shape us and continue to shape us even though we think they are of the past and of no relevance. The impacts of colonisation continues today. What did you learn as normal and not normal? What relationship to money and the economy, nature and landscape did you learn? 

And finally, Spirit/Nature. These forces are beyond human. The landscape in which we grew up in (city or country, vast or constricted).   How are we in relationship to land/spirit? Wilderness and nature rate as one of the key resilience factors for humans. Nature is always shaping us yet we mine for finite resources, pollute our oceans and continue to exploit our natural resources.

As a result of this work, I now have an incredible appreciation and humility for indigenous cultures’ leanings and wisdom. I am also so much more aware of our current culture and when we continue to take what is not rightfully ours.  The cocoa ceremonies, psyllium ceremonies, and new wellness apps – many of which at times, are stripped of the lineage and historical contexts with little recognition or compensation towards the original owners. I was unaware of this until recently,  and when it landed it was felt. Building awareness around how we have been shaped by our culture is key to understanding what we mean by privilege and oppression.  

We can start to build our awareness around our impact by continuously looking at our ‘shaping’ and if we are designing products and services with deep reverence and respect for our customers and a desire to do the right thing by humanity beyond just this current time.  

I invite you to review the sites of the shaping model and apply it to yourself at each level asking the relevant questions including social norms at each level.  Can you apply it to the people you’re designing for? What if we knew more about the communities or how the institutions we work for shape our customers both directly and indirectly? 

If anyone has used this model in their design work or chooses to, I would love to hear what shows up. There may be an opportunity for it to evolve and have more widespread use in design as we keep designing for all peoples and our planet.