People Must Be Their Own Individual Person

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 act of people conforming is seen every where. Any activity performed by someone that is “in the ordinary” is them conforming to the norm. In the crucible, all the girls conform to the norm, set by Abigail Williams. When Abigail faints, the girls faint, when Abigail screams, the girls scream. They mirror her in her every action due to their fear of what would occur if they did not. Same concept is seen today, for example, when you shower regularly you are conforming to the norm. You shower in fear of judgement if you were not to shower, and you shower in following the actions of others. This common action of following in others footsteps affects us by causing people to become identical and influencing people to ignore their personal morals and follow the mob of society blindly. People force physical change upon themselves due to fear of being that one

The individual must rebel against societal conformity. “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” (Emerson-quotesgram.com) People can’t just conform to what everyone else is doing and follow the path that is already made. They have to go where there is no path and make their own trail for others to follow if they want. It may be more difficult than just follow where there is already a path, but sometimes it is better to do things the hard way, because in the end it pays off in different ways. “Simplify, simplify.” (Thoreau 383) If we don’t want to conform to what the society wants, then we have to simplify our lives to make them easier on our own. If people can’t simplify their lives, then they will think that

Humans often act in ways they know to be incorrect or wrong for their own social benefit, often because we fear being different. One example of this is the Asch Conformity Experiment, where 75% of participants would choose the wrong answer on an obvious question just to not stand out from the crowd. After the experiment, all said they felt self-conscious and feared disapproval from the group. Another example is when those in a social group have preferences or choices differ from the rest of the group, they will often conform to the rest of the group's opinion. Nobody wants to be the only person to dislike a certain food or think a certain way, they fear they will be judged negatively for it. As social creatures, we seek for and strive other

Conformity, it’s something everyone deals with, even if they do not realize it. Although, what happens when conformity takes control over everything? What if the world was stripped of individuality, no citizen has any rights to hold on to, while not being able to think for one’s self. That is an image what it would be like if everyone in the world were to conform to a restricting society. Just think of all of the advances in technology the human race has come up with in the last ten years alone. None of that would have been possible in a society where no one can go above another person's IQ level. This is the world the characters in Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem live in. The reasons that total conformity is dangerous is because individuality is not possible, no family history, and advancement would not be possible.

In fact, this also applies to the situation of understanding what social conformity is. This subject has been around for centuries, forcing many to behave in a certain way that the society expects. The influence of peer pressure is still a topic has an impact to the world, especially the adolescents. The “[s]ocial psychologists have suggested that one core function of compliance and conformity is to maintain group harmony”(“Social Influence and the Brain:Persuasion, Susceptibility to Influence and Retransmission” Cascio,Scholz,Falk) and this applies to many individuals who value public opinions more than their own. They seek to be “good” people and make an effort to follow the trend of the crowd. More often than not, this also relates to the confidence level of an individual, “If those others agree with one’s beliefs, one gains confidence in them; if they disagree, one loses confidence” (“Conformity,” Levine). This is indeed what many people face today from all different phases of life. Daisy, one of the characters in the book The Great Gatsby, is a perfect example of a person soaked into social conformity. From the beginning of her marriage life with Tom to the end of the book, she progresses into immoral stages of life. Day after day she conforms herself into a world filled with corruptions, such as adultery and murder. Although, she is an adult, she is a character that is stuck in a stage that her age group have already

“Living in society, we are under constant pressure to surrender our individuality to the will of the majority, the school, the workplace, the family, etc.” (Feys, P.6). Logan Feys, the author of “The Sociology of Leopard Man”, states that society is persistently under pressure to change our individual likings, personality, change the way we look, etc. to feel accepted and approved by society. The desire to fit in and not be an outsider with social groups causes people to feel pressured and change themselves to fit in. Fey’s statement is correct that people conform with society to not be an outsider or avoid the fear of possibly being an outsider.

We must decide for ourselves whether to conform to such a social etiquette. We are taught as soon as we are old enough to grasp the idea that it is bad to be unique and to avoid being different. At some point, however, we must decide within ourselves whether to spend every day trying to be like everyone else because society says we should or living each day true to ourselves. Our strength as a person is proven through what we decide. The benefits of being true to ourselves greatly outweigh any negative aspects of choosing that path.

Social conformity is a dangerous, chaotic force. A simple gathering can spontaneously lead to surges of violence and atrocities. As one stone is thrown, another follows, each one faster than the last. They have muddied their identity into a mob. Social conformity is the suppression of one’s thoughts and identity to conform to the herd.

Many people want to be just like the others. They want to fit in and therefore act the way others act. This is the type of shit people need to get out of there head. Everyone is different and it is what makes everyone their own unique selves. If

People do many different things in attempt to fit in, even while wanting to make a difference. However, that person could be too afraid to do so, and instead go along with the crowd. This is conformity, trying to blend in with society just because they’re too afraid to speak out. A person can live a fulfilled life by not conforming to society’s standards and opinions, and by living their life bravely.

Why do people insist on conforming to others and changing who they are to do so? Part of the definition of who we are as human beings comes in the differences between one person and another. Especially in today’s world, we are in need of people with strong leadership qualities who do not depend on others to guide their thoughts and actions and tell them what to do and when to do it. Dylan Charles writes, “The broad message to young people nowadays is to conform and submit to norms and phony authority rather than to develop personal integrity, personal liberty and true happiness.”

To fit into the social standards, tremendous amount of people change themselves. It’s a psychological feeling to want to belong, so altars are made to the appearance and personalities. Why is it that outrageous actions are made, so that an individual can be considered “normal”, by society's beliefs? The natural man seeks acceptance within a community and sometimes by wanting approval, dignity and self actualization of an individual counterfeits who they really are. According to Brené Brown, from the book “The Gifts of Imperfection”, “we often try to acquire [belonging] by fitting in and by seeking approval, which are not only hollow substitutes for belonging, but often barriers to it.” In the world, many people want to feel included so fitting

So many people think that following societies standards are a good thing which some are, but they shouldn’t cost us changing who we are. People that do this are called conformist, which are people that follow or are with society. Then there are people that are like leopard man, a nonconformist, which are people that are considered

Lack of individuality, rebellion, pressure, limited expression, manipulation, being controlled - these are all ingredients that make up the recipe for the dangerous nature of conformity. To some, and maybe yourself, the very idea of being conformed in this way is unheard of - to be controlled by authority, or to not express who you are is nothing more than simple food for thought whilst reading your favourite dystopian novel. But to some, they face these circumstances more often than not, maybe in extremes, or maybe without realising it. A simple day at school can end up being a place where kids are told to act a certain way and to say things they don’t mean. There are some upsides to conformity - it gives order and regulation to a system where