Individuality Overpower Conformity

Americans today tend to believe that being an individual is the typical entity for any civilian living. My whole life I have heard it said that being yourself will have a big impact on my life as I grow older. In that case it has been a been a massive part of my life; however, I have got sucked into the conformity society at times myself. Although I have improved, I cannot help thinking that people in society are also getting sucked in conformity. While they rarely admit as much, people often tell themselves that they do not follow others and claim they are original.

The article “Social Influence on Risk Perception during Adolescence” by Lisa j. Knoll, Lucia Magis-Weinberg, Maarten Speekenbrink, and Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, explores the relationship between social influence and risk taking. The authors acknowledge that adolescence is a time in life where risk taking is more likely to occur with peers than alone. However it is not just adolescence that are victims of peer pressure. People of all ages are constantly making decisions about whether they should take such risks. But what makes people take the risk? The article say that “adolescences are unaware of potential risks and feel invulnerable”. However that does not explain why they are more likely to engage

Conformity killed my mind. Conformity kills one’s individuality, creativity, and the ability to think and act on one 's own. Society writes out these rules and standards that they hold everyone to, as if their building a character for a book or movie, it kills our imperfection and who we are as a person. And it can stop use from seeing the truth when it’s right in front of us and changes our whole perspective on reality.

Many individuals is faced with the decision of conforming or choosing personal desire, and it is not an easy decision. It is hard because being shunned by others for being different is not a good feeling. Choosing to conform over personal desire, often leads to loss. On the other hand, personal desire is what sets others apart and gives them joy. In the poem, “The Jackhammer Syndrome”, Al Purdy discusses the good and bad memories he has experienced. He goes through his memories of when he had fun and made mistakes, but he reflects on what he could have done better. The author of “The Jackhammer Syndrome informs against choosing the welcoming joy of conformity over the long-term gains of personal desire. Making the decision to pursue conformity over personal desire may seem easy at first, but if the choice is to conform, the joy it gives will not last. Making the decision to pursue conformity over personal desire Conformity may seem to give joy at first, but it does not last. When Al is playing pool with his brother, he wants to win badly, but losses. However when he did not care to win, Al wins! Conforming can lead to loss but personal desire has much to gain. If the choice is to conform, personal identity may be lost. In my life, I recognize several instances in which I found several similarities between Al and myself. I have made decisions that were not always good ones such as swimming across long distances with friends.

Conformity is a concept that has been heavily researched in the field of social psychology. Conformity is defined as a change in behavior, beliefs, and attitudes due to group pressure perceived as real (encompassing the presence of others) or imagined (encompassing the pressure of social standards) (Myers, 2010, p. 192). The concept of conformity is a powerful influence on the tendency for people to arrange their thoughts, perspectives, and ideas with others, especially when in a group. This takes away from a person’s individuality because they want to feel accepted by others and therefore, a person will accomplish this basic need of approval through conforming.

As readers, we see how the analysis of conflictive themes has been taking over literature scenarios. When reading between the lines of certain books we can perceive themes such as conformity and rebellion. Mostly these themes can be seen in writings from times of social upheaval. According to The Oxford Dictionary, the word conformity means “behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards”, while rebellion means “the action or process of resisting authority, control, or convention.” These terms create a constant battle among societies. A certain amount of conformity needs to exist in life in order to avoid disorder. This is the reason society has laws, rules and expectations. Literature represents life, and these themes can be found at the root of many literary works. Conformity can also be considered as silence. This silence is based on the restrictions of real feelings and thoughts in some literary pieces. During the sixteenth century, the emphasis on conformity was at its height. Works of literature from this time period have often reflected a fascination and frustration with this particular characteristic. People do not want to be restricted in terms of expressing opinions and developing certain activities. When facing oppression, denial of their freedom, they rebel, and that contributes to the part of the process of change in society. Not all kinds of rebellions are rationally fundamental, but when they are, it can transform society for the

Willa Cather's "Paul's Case," displays the conflict between conformity and individuality through the main character, Paul. On a number of occasions, Paul is forced to lie and steal to escape the conformists who wish to control him and stifle his unique imagination. However, his lying, stealing, and attempts to escape the conformists, only force Paul into isolation, depression, and feeling a sense of shame for his individuality. Throughout the story one might see Cather's constant contrast of individuality versus conformity, as well as Paul's lying and stealing. Cather seems to draw the conclusion that extreme individuals, much like Paul are simply misunderstood, and not offered the acceptance they desire

In this dystopian world the people are dependant upon soma at anytime when unpleasant thoughts, feelings or emotions are shown. Soma can drive any bad thoughts out of mind. Doctors declare that one cubic centimeter of soma cures ten gloomy sentiments. Like soma drug in Brave New World, in The Giver, there is a relief-of-pain medication that is provided to community members to relieve their pains so that no one can suffer. Whenever there is any kind of unpleasant thought or pain or disease, people are immediately given this unnamed medication.

When anyone faces a new environment were their society does not align with one’s own, the initial reaction is to not conform to their ideals. In Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, his protagonist, John, is stuck in the Brave New World. He lives his everyday life by challenging the customs and morals of the brave new world society. This eventually spirals out of control and only shows that conformity is inevitable no matter how hard to try to be the odd man out. John is considered a savage in this novel because he is not from the brave new world society.

“Group conformity scares the pants off me because it’s so often a prelude to cruelty towards anyone who doesn’t want to-or can’t-join the Big Parade.” The style of text I have chosen to focus on is individuality, as I believe that uniqueness of an individual is essential for freedom. Through analysing the texts Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Equilibrium by Kurt Wimmer, Blind Faith by Ben Elton, The Machine Stops by E.M. Foster and I Always do what Teddy Says by Harry Harrison. I have noticed that societies are being controlled through the idea of conflicts and religious symbolism and conformity, which are prominent in all the societies. The intent to trigger us of the dystopias that could arise in our world today is prominent. I have also

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Becoming yourself while not conforming is the greatest accomplishment. Whether or not we think we do it or not, we all have done it at some point in our lives. In 1964, a young woman named Kitty Genovese was murdered outside of her apartment. Many people heard this innocent woman being brutally murdered and just assumed someone would help. So why do people just assume someone will help? Why are we so scared to stand up for what we believe? Why are we so terrified to stick out? Stop conforming and be an individual.

Conformity and Its Meaning This assignment focuses upon conformity and what it means to us. Conformity is defined by Zimbardo (1992) as "A tendency for people to adopt behaviour, values and attitudes of other members of a reference group". Why people conform is a topic of much debate.

Since the modern era, a major limitation of society remains: the obsession of one’s appearances, and the subsequent alienation of those perceived to not fit the ideal. The general media unceasingly promotes the thin ideal, spawns a multi-billion dollar diet industry, and permeates major aspects of society, such as the medical community. The hatred for one’s appearance is entirely a social construct perpetuated by the media. More importantly, the ideal has alienated those perceived to be outside of it, which is the majority of the U.S. population. The conformity stifles individualism on various levels. America was made great because of its diversity, which is now threatened by pressures to conform. It encompasses all aspects of life, even

Venerated poet, Maya Angelou, once wrote, “few survive, if any, survive their teens. Most surrender to the vague but murderous pressure of… conformity.” This is especially true in the education system, where impressionable youth submit to a doctrine of doing simply what they are told, doing as others do. Nearly all schools rain down this ruling, as in many cases it is necessary to their functionality, so as to avoid a becoming a system that runs on a mild form of anarchy. However, in many cases, the conformist rule is unnecessarily strong, and grossly impeding on personal freedoms, as I’ve seen myself within our own school.

Everyone has the disease. Everyone is infected. No one can help you. Conformity. It’s in your blood. Conformity means you change yourself to please another, change the way you speak because everyone else is doing it--- even questioning yourself about what to do next since you feel the need to have people’s opinions. Unfortunately, there is no way to escape from this disease. Everyone should get out of their shell every once in awhile, but that still won’t help you.