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More handpicked essays just for you.
Peer pressure leading to conformity
How society pressures conformity
How society pressures conformity
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Barbara Kingsolver’s quote required some thought to understand its meaning. The quote is rather straightforward, but it can mean different things across people. I agree with the message this quote is trying to present, and I believe its true meaning involves two aspects: hiding ones true self and trying to tell others what they want to hear. In social situations, people tend to hide their flaws and instead be the person everyone likes. Even outside of the realm of popularity, some people are ostracized for their differences. The world is filled with prejudice, and it is important for one not to change his or herself just because the world does not agree with them. I have experienced this in my life because I am socially awkward. Often,
Clare Boothe Luce constructs the introduction of her speech to the Women’s National Press club in a very intriguing manner, to catch the attention of her audience. She writes her introduction, almost as if she is condemning her audience for their general tendencies to indulge in news stories, whether they are true or not. Luce’s unique introduction has captured many people’s attention by using an abundance of rhetorical strategies. Luce uses many persuasive rhetorical techniques to express the importance of the truth, especially in regards to present-day news corporations and organizations.
The search for one’s identity can be a constant process and battle, especially for teenagers and young adults. Many people have a natural tendency to want to fit in and be accepted by others, whether it be with family, friends or even strangers. They may try to change who they are, how they act, or how they dress in order to fit in. As one gets older, society can influence one’s view on what they should look like, how they should act, or how they should think. If society tells us that a certain body type or hair color is beautiful, that is what some people strive for and want to become in order to be more liked. This was especially true with Avery as she longed for the proper clothes to fit into a social group and began to change the way she spoke to match those around her. As a young and impressionable sixth grader, she allowed herself to become somewhat whitewashed in an attempt to fit in with the other girls. However, Avery did not really become friends with any of those girls; her only real friend was
On the other hand, ideally one should be true to one’s heart, if Disney’s Mulan is to be believed. But these are neither solid pieces of advice nor wise counsel; they are at best hand-wavy, wishy-washy statements that offer no guidance on traveling the minefield that is remaining true to oneself. In fact, given the wide swath of human experiences, it is difficult to imagine a panacea effective for each and every trial and tribulation people may encounter in maintaining the integrity of their identities; personally, I don't think one exists. Just as there are myriad events, emotions, and memories from which one’s identity develops, it surely follows that there are just as many ways social norms act to compromise one’s individuality, ostensibly for the worse. Therefore, it seems that an indirect solution would best serve individuals filled and bombarded with doubt about who they really are; namely, the unwavering support of a community would allow individuals to resolve, on their own terms, their inner conflicts stemming from outward
In life you will be faced with the challenge of fitting in many times, but you should not let the people around you define who you are. At school there are lots of trends and I see it here at collegiate where people wear certain clothes or shoes because it’s a fad. In third and fourth grade the largest fad by far was “Silly Bandz” and everyone had them and everyone wanted to have them. It may seem to be an unsophisticated example, but it is very relevant to the topic. Everyone should be individual and not just what other people are pressuring them to be, but truly themselves. Be a leader not a
As clever as human beings are, we still rely on social groups for survival. We evolved to live in cooperative societies, and for most of human history we depended on those groups for our lives. Like hunger or thirst, our need for acceptance emerged as a mechanism for survival. But when we don't have that, we tend to become disconnected from society, which ultimately leads to social rejection. Being socially rejected can also be the reason why people commit horrific acts. In the novel Nineteen Minutes, Jodi Picoult shows that being socially ostracized can affect someone's life significantly.
In today’s society we measure people by the way they appear to us. Within the first five seconds of meeting someone, we will come to a decision whether or not the person acts in the “proper” way society approves of. This misleads people into behaving and acting in ways they normally wouldn’t to fit into what society deems as the right way to behave. When someone decides to reject the “proper” way they become alienated from their peers/society. In almost every area of life be it work, school, or the community, people create an idea of a person based on how they appear to us. We neglect to see the person for who they really are. We are expected to behave accordingly to the box we are placed in whether it be based on our sexuality, sex, race or our cultural background, and when we refuse to accept this, we become rejected, cast off. This leads me to believe that the majority of social issues society faces, would be solved with the abolishment of tyranny: “Any harsh discipline or oppression.” (Collins English Dictionary - Complete & unabridged 10th edition)
“As I slowly lost my speech, I gained my voice. As I diminished, I grew. As I lost so much, I finally started to find myself” (Neil Sellinger). ALS changes a lot of people’s opinion on life once they fully experience that they’re unable to do the things they once used to. Their perspective changes fully. In Tuesday’s with Morrie, Morrie teaches people to live life through love, money is not needed to have a happy life, and that accepting death is okay.
Everybody wants to be accepted, yet society is not so forgiving. It bends you and changes you until you are like everyone else. Society depends on conformity and it forces it upon people. In Emerson's Self Reliance, he says "Society is a joint stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater." People are willing to sacrifice their own hopes and freedoms just to get the bread to survive. Although the society that we are living in is different than the one the Emerson's essay, the idea of fitting in still exists today. Although society and our minds make us think a certain way, we should always trust our better judgment instead of just conforming to society.
According to Silvia Bellezza, a doctoral candidate in marketing at Harvard Business School in Boston, “Nonconformity leads to positive inferences of status and competence when it is associated with deliberateness and intentionality..” Intentional deviance from a norm can project heightened status and competence by signaling that one has the autonomy to act according to one’s own inclinations (Silvia Bellezza). For example, in one study she found that participants perceived an individual deliberately wearing a red bow tie at a black-tie party in a country club as a higher-status member of the club and a better golf player than a conforming individual wearing a black bow tie. This enhances one's sense of freedom which allows a person to have their own identity in the crowd. Amanda Chatel, a writer for Bustle, claims that “Being your darling and the bizarre self who does their own thing is the best thing you can be... in life… the dating world, online or otherwise.” Being yourself can increase one's charm. As stated in the second paragraph, “those who march to the beat of their own drummer,” or follow their own constitution are, “far more attractive than those who are just like...everyone else.” Although some conformists accept who they are, your true identity can encourage positivity within yourself. For instance, this can be beneficial for one's self-esteem and confidence, constructing that
While trying to break the movie theater norm, it was difficult for me to pick movies with a different variety of people and movies that were a little older so less people would be attending them. I also had a little trouble when it came to answering the phone and waiting for the other person to talk first. The problem with this one was that I had to wait for people to actually call me, which doesn't happen that often in this day and age anymore. To conclude, these social norms forced people to be in uncomfortable situations and make a decision as to how they would react to it.
“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself” (Harvey Fierstein). This quote has various different meanings and ways to perceive it. But, the most important meaning of this quote is to live your life in only the way that will make you happiest, and don’t ever let anyone stop you. Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, Amelia Earhart and Dr. Jennifer Welter never let anyone stand in the way and followed their dreams, becoming some very influential females in society.
In Erving Goffman’s, Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959), he starts with the famous quote by Shakespeare saying, “all the world’s a stage and all the men and women are merely players. They have their exits and their entrances: and one man in his time plays many parts.” This quote gives a simplified example of what the theory is. The theory analyzes how individuals have different sides for the multiple platforms they align themselves with. When an individual places himself among others, he tends to act differently than if he were alone (Goffman, 1959). Humans are concerned with how we are viewed and how our status is perceived. Goffman (1959) says that there are two different ways that our expressiveness is shared, the expression he gives and the expression that he “gives off”. The verbal signs that an individual gives is the interaction that he knows will form an attachment with the receiver of the message. The expression that he gives of is when he creates a particular type of character for the specific reaction he wants from his audience (Goffman, 1959). Goffman explains that humans have the tendency to alter their public selves to avoid embarrassment or being ostracized. He also found that there is no exact number of times this can happen, and that individuals will take whatever corrective measures to create the identity they want to portray for a particular
Pushing people into a generalized group is not going to get anyone anywhere in life. Judging or stereotyping someone affects the one judging and the one being judged. Author Annie Paul brought out that, “We should also put in place techniques for reducing anxiety and building self-confidence that take advantage of our social natures.”(Par 14). By stereotyping one another each person is tearing down the others self esteem. Not everyone is the same. Some of these stereotypes view various people very negatively which make it hard for an individual to overcome this issue because he/she knows what others already believe them to be. By building one another up by viewing them as their own individual and not part of a crowd, could help tremendously throughout their lives and they can continue to do the same for
It’s hard for people to fit in when others can’t accept you. Everyone wants to be accepted and be a part of the ‘in-crowd’, but just because you’re a little different, people may stop liking you. People should embrace their differences, “Instead they’re creating this divided environment where they’re showing all these children that a child is different and we’re going to treat them po...
...self. We live in a world of great diversity where people come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. Learning to accept others for who they are and not how they look can only be beneficial in the end.