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Personal identity and Self Identity
Personal identity and social identity
How is personal identity shaped
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Many people may argue that conformity is necessary to better society but others also argue that nonconformity is needed to let people think for themselves. It’s not surprising to go to a Target or a Starbucks and see that everybody looks “normal” but it’s surprising when somebody has crazy hair or a bunch of tattoos or wears “weird” clothes. Even though conformity is in human nature, we need nonconformity to stand out from others. How much should we really support conformity, though? It’s not surprising to go to a Target or a Starbucks and see that everybody looks “normal” but it’s surprising when somebody has crazy hair or a bunch of tattoos or wears “weird” clothes. Even though conformity is in human nature, we need nonconformity to stand out from others. How much should we really support conformity, though? Society An example of diversity being good is in the article “13 Pros and Cons of Conformity in Society”, which says “If everyone conformed to the rules of society there would be a lack of diversity,” which isn’t very surprising. When the author states this, they clearly mean exactly what the quote says. If everybody and everything was the same, then nothing would change or be different from what is already there. In addition to the previous sentence taken from the article, the author also wrote that “If everyone conformed to society-there would be no change,” which is a complete fact. Almost identical to the previous quote, the author is just stating that there wouldn’t be change, again. It’s very true because if everybody had the same mind set and same ideas, there wouldn’t be any cool or shocking things for people to do or see and it would kind of be like living in a black and white world with no colors. Overall, nonconformity is something that will always be needed in the world no matter what it’s for and not enough support
Another point I agree with is that it's a lot easier to just fit in and not lead the train and being yourself. I personally know from experience. Growing up I always tried to conform just to fit in with the people that surrounded me. It's not just me that i've seen conform to fit in, i've seen many of my friends conform to fit in with the crowd. All around me, everyday people are conforming and changing to fit in with the society.
Conformity also restricts the ideas of society to be heard, because everyone must follow the same ideology. One of the quotes from Beatty is “You must understand that our civilization is so vast that we can’t have our minorities upset and stirred”, implying that people are better off conforming to the culture so that unhappiness does not happen (Bradbury 56). In Fahrenheit 451 conformity is the motto of the culture, society is distracted with certain simple things like TV and racing cars. Clarisse explains to Montag “People don’t talk about anything. they all say the same thing and nobody says anything different from anyone else”, the culture of this society couldn’t question certain things and most of their conversations lead to the same basic ideas.
...ther, and nearly kills an innocent woman. In a broader perspective, conformity can leave people walking aimlessly down the beaten path with no real direction except conformity, doomed to live yet another meaningless life in a society based on archaic principles.
In society, it's difficult to go against the norm. Individuals are compelled to act a specific way, or look a specific way in order to be accepted. For instance, teenagers may encounter pressure from their peers to partake in specific exercises that may not be moral, since they feel the need to fit in. This weight of conformity isn't just present in reality; it can be found in literature as well. The story "St. Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised by Wolves" by Karen Russell depicts that in order to conform to society, individuals abandon their selflessness and compassion and become selfish and apathetic.
Pursuing a personal desire and choosing to conform to societal expectations is a challenging decision to make. A person must decide if their personal desire is worth risking the shame and judgment of others or is conforming the route to take because it is easier. When pursuing a personal desire one must ask itself if it is worth the hardship to accomplish one's desire or if it is best left alone and repressed, in hopes of finding comfort in conformity. John Laroche from The Orchid Thief expresses his personal desire without a care for conformity or societal expectations. Nevertheless, Laroche never stopped being strange as he grew up with fascinations of many objects such as orchids, turtles, old mirrors and fish tanks.
“Social conformity has been practiced in societies around the world since ancient times,” and the reason it is so effective is that humans have an inherent need to be accepted as part of a group (Sadat). Furthermore, Hossna Sadat reports that:
Conformity and Obedience in Society The desire to be accepted and belong to a group is an undeniable human need. But how does this need affect an individual? Social psychologists have conducted numerous experiments and concluded that, through various forms of social influence, groups can change their members’ thoughts, feelings, and behavior. In her essay “Group Minds,” Doris Lessing discusses our paradoxical ability to call ourselves individuals and our inability to realize that groups define and influence us.
Conformity, or going along with the crowd, is a unique phenomenon that manifests itself in our thoughts and behaviors. It’s quite simple to identify countless examples of the power of conformity in virtually all aspects of social life. Conformity influences our opinions and relationships with others, often to a higher extent than we realize. It is posited that people generally conform to the group in order to fit in and avoid rejection or because they truly believe the group is more knowledgeable than they are. After analyzing numerous studies and experiments on the nature of conformity, one will find that the motive of social acceptance is the greatest driver of conformity.
society, there is not only a tolerance of certain kinds of non-conformity, but sometimes uniqueness and individuality are celebrated. For example, in the last presidential election both Bernie Sander and Donald Trump were campaigning “against” the establishment. They were nonconformist candidates whose campaigns gained supporters based almost entirely on the fact that their ideas went against the “mainstream” candidate moderates in their political parties. Also, in the U.S. today, the government doesn’t enforce conformity. In fact, the Supreme Court has made some decisions in recent years on issues like gay marriage that have upheld the right to be a nonconformist. However, although the government doesn’t enforce conformity, there are many ways that individuals encourage others to conform. For example, in schools and other institutions, individuals who “don’t fit in” are often harassed and bullied for being different. People who look different, dress different, or act different, face a lot of hostility. Also, it is common for individuals with differing opinions, particularly, on political issues to shout each other down. Social media is a platform where often people with unpopular ideas or opinions get bullied into being quiet and keeping their opinion to themselves. Therefore, even though, we seemingly live in a society that is tolerant of nonconformity, there are pressures to conform and be like everyone
In every society, there is conformity and nonconformity, although we may not notice it. Conformity is when someone is doing the same thing as others because they do not want to be the only one doing differently. Example, if there was a whole class raising their hands would you want to be the only one with your hand down, no so you would raise it with the rest of the class to not look like you don't know anything. This is called social pressures it when a large group is doing something and you're the only one not then you want to be doing whatever that large group is doing.
Conformity is defined as behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards. This is not a good or bad thing, this just is. It exists as a compliment to earlier humans congregating into larger groups, using agriculture and domestication to create sustenance. Also, conformity is essential for life. We need people to share the same ideas, ideologies and a way of thinking in order to work efficiently and effectively. There many examples that exist like, at work or in your house and even within yourself. Sigmund Freud has explained the phenomena of group psychology in a piece titled, Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego. Using Freud’s theory of conformity I will explain the self, what we call “me”,and its different constituents using The Principles of Psychology by
middle of paper ... ... This is because I am aware how society tries to control what should be seen as normal, but as humans we are all individuals and there is no 'norm' there is only an ideal self, how society would like everyone to be and conform. Works Cited Ferrell, J. (2004). Boredom, Crime and Criminology, Theoretical Criminology, 8 (3), pp. 287-302.
Though conformity is a humane feeling, many examples of conformity going wrong can be found throughout history. For example, multiple Germans conformed to follow Nazism and prosecuted millions of innocent Jews. Southern whites conformed to segregate thousands of African-Americans. By looking at multiple sources of literature, one can see conformity becomes unacceptable when innocent people are hurt and/or killed and affects the way one thinks or acts.
The Pros of Diversity: It is far easier to relate with people when you treat everyone exactly the same. It also feels good when you know someone everywhere you go. A bigger group brings a larger sense of community.
In conclusion, we as a society have to realize that individuality goes much deeper than material things and that it is okay to be different. Conforming to what society feels you should do will not only be detrimental to our growth as humans but as a world community as well.