When health professionals talk about the non-essential interventions that are routinely carried out, they often cite social norms as a way of explaining the value of those interventions.

 

Examples include: hypospadias surgery being used to ensure that a boy can stand to urinate, and clitoral surgery being used to make a large clitoris less visible. It is presented as common sense that helping a child aspire to social norms is a way of promoting their psycho-social well-being.

 

How else might we understand the relationship between social norms and psycho-social well-being?

 

How might we think differently about the role of common sense?