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Essay about Individuality and Socialization

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We as a human race have become a byproduct of our society. Through media, technology, and social pressure, humans no longer run society, but it seems like we are run by society. The quote from sociologist Peter Berger states “Not only do people live in society but society lives in them” This statement is referring to a form of social control were groups and the people in those groups conform to society partially knowingly and partially as a reflection based on dominant social expectations. As I further explain Berger’s statement I will explain how individuality, identity, and freedom fit in to such a predetermined future. Though identity suggests to an aspect of individuality it is really a result of socialization. Identity is how we see …show more content…

While all people conform to society to some degree we all develop aspects of individuality from our different experiences. Individuality is what makes the human race as successful as it is. It adds creativity and change in an otherwise idle society. Without it there would be no change. While all these characteristics of individuality are true there are pressures from society that still eliminate total individuality. Ones individuality is based on pressures of society. A woman will develop individual traits characteristic of a women, such as physical beauty and motherhood. A man will develop certain traits characteristic of a man, such as sports or risky behavior. An individual’s races or religions can also have an influence on what a person’s individual traits will be. While most humans have a certain amount of individuality, Berger’s statement still applies, society lives in us all and there is little an individual can do to manipulate it. Freedom has a large range of meaning. The encyclopedia Britannica defines freedom as “the quality or state of being free, and the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action” (Britannica). In the American society there is a lot of emphasis on freedom, and the right to be free, but one must question to what extent we are truly “free”.

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