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In the essay, The Sociology of Leopard Man, by Logan Feys, he argues that individuality can be affected by the pressures that society puts on people. I completely agree with this main focal point in the essay.
I agree with Feys because he explains that, “Conformity can be seen as the world's most common but dangerous psychological disorder” (par. 6). This touches on the fact that people in our society change who they are. But also that as people conform they begin to lose a sense of self, which can lead to harmful disorders. This is not only terrifying but very evident in our world.
Another reason I agree with Feys is because he shares the point that, “Society looks down upon freakish and extraordinary individuals alike and views them with suspicion” (par. 4). This discusses that as a people we put so much pressure on everyone to conform to what is mainstream along with the majority. Also that people who aren’t “normal” are negatively stereotyped. This is very sad, people have enough insecurities naturally without being labeled by those around them.
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An additional, but personal reason I agree with Feys is that at school there is a noticeable pressure to dress a certain way and achieve good grades.
Our school sets a dress code but beyond that as pupils we judge each other's appearance. We base our opinion of how intelligent a person is by their grades. Maybe dressing and looking different is what someone enjoys. That could be how they express who they are and we judge them for it. Or maybe someone is more street smart than book smart. In all actuality someone could be incredibly smart but is not a good test taker. I've been in a club called Circle Of Friends, and in my experience some of the smartest kids are those with disabilities and they get very little to no credit. In many ways people sacrifice their happiness and individuality to “fit
in”. A final and personal reason that I agree with Feys is that social pressures can be present in families. In my family for example I am labeled the “nerd”. Everyone else is much more spontaneous, whereas I enjoy a set plan. So I am pushed sometimes to lessen who I am to blend with my family more. Feys talks in his essay about humans being individuals in this way. We all have different talents, aspirations, etc., but it is wrong for a person to not be “normal”. Overall, Feys is claiming that as humans we are naturally different than others. But in all aspects of our society we have put pressures to camouflage our differences to be more like the majority. I wholeheartedly agree with Feys point of view presented in his essay.
Individualism and conformity—two very commonly used terms to describe anyone in today’s times. In comparison to the article “The Sociology of Leopard Man,” written by Logan Feys, one of the most notable quotes that relates to individualism and conformity is “to be a human is to be an individual human, with individual tastes [.][and]talents [.] that are distinct from those of others. Living in society, we are under constant pressure to surrender our individuality to the will of the majority, the school, the workplace, the family,.” (Feys Par. 6.)
Fey’s says that many normal people are not really normal and have serious psychological issues like depression and alcoholism. According to Feys these conditions are caused by, “ The desire to fit in”. Trying to fit in is a common experience in life and it can be stressful trying to be something you're not, and while I have not gotten any of theses psychological conditions, I could see how others might turn to alcoholism, addiction, or become depressed, either to try and relieve or respond to that stress.Some people may say that once someone is depressed or an alcoholic they are no longer normal. But how do you know if someone has one of these problems, your neighbor or someone in your family could be depressed and you might never know unless they told you. Are they freaks just because they have a temporary problem? If they weren’t normal they would not of given themselves these conditions by trying to fit in. Leopard man is so happy because he is free from the pressures to conform and does not care abou...
President John F. Kennedy once said, "Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.". Conforming to societal customs can lead to “pluralistic ignorance” which is defined as being unsure and doubtful of majority behavior. This diagnoses causes people to conform to things that are not actually in existence and undermines creativity and productiveness. Hans Christian Andersen’s “Emperors New Clothes” is the impeccable illustration of the consequences and compliancy of conformity. No one in the story wanted to admit that they could not see the cloth and were unfit for their position, therefore everyone only admitted to seeing the incredible cloth. Conformity is divided between internal and external. Internal is the honest changing how one believes and acts and external is when one only behaves in a different way but does not change what they believe. External conformity is the most detrimental to the individual due to the constant combat between self-morals and actions. Conformity not only is destructive to an individual but also is harmful to others. Studies have proven that conforming can cause people to become passive bystanders to ethical wrongs like bullying and breaking of the law. With overwhelming and constant refutation, the negatives of conformity tend to suppress the
Conformity, the act of changing to fit in. Conformity can completely change a person whether it be their looks, such as their the way they dress, or their personality, like the way they act around certain people. In The Sociology of Leopard Man Logan Feys argues that being human has a right to it, and that right is to be who you are. Society pushes out certain people for not fitting in with everyone else, but also says that nobody should fit in, because everyone has a different personality.
The most basic concept in social psychology is conformity. Conformity is the idea that behaviour or a belief is changed in order to follow, or conform, to what is considered the “norm.” One of the oldest experiments to support this notion was conducted in 1935 by Muzafer Sherif (Song, Ma, Wu, Li, 2012 p. 1366). There are two different types of
...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.
It is very common to see conformity among young people, especially when large groups of young people are constantly around each other. School is one example where conformity is rampant. For some reason people tend to gravitate towards what others are doing. In Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, Never Let Me Go, the characters are no different from any other young person in that they tend to conform. Ishiguro shows this conformity to prove that conformity stems from the want to fit in and pure ignorance. At Hailsham, the students conform just to fit in with the rest of the students, but they also conform because they do not know any better.
“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:
Logan said “Society tends to discourage people from expressing their unique ideas and behaving in ways that are different from their peers”(Feys 1). Although, not everyone changes to impress society or to get an approval from others. I have met some people who act the same way with everyone which does not mean everyone changes to conform in others presence. When they are with their friends, they act immature and at the same time, when they are with their parents they act the same way. Also Logan said that Leopard Man did not change to get the attention or to conform within
In my view, Feys is wrong because you can tell there are those people who do outrageous things to seek attention, and those who do things for their own approval and happiness like Leopard Man. Leopard Man was one of those “ Non Conformists” who showed us that being ourselves and striving for our own satisfaction and happiness was one of the greatest things you could ever achieve; sadly he passed away on June 16, 2016 at 80 years old and he died in a care home. When he was 70 years old he changed his small cozy home and island for a house in Broadford, Skye. More specifically, I believe that even though it seems that we do things to seek attention from society and people around us it’s not true because we do things to express ourselves in our own
Although believed to be only negative, conflicts based on conformity can have positive results. Problems derived from conformity may cause controversy in society but for some people who conformed, they’ll know that it’s not always going to be a negative result. However, conforming can lead to positives too such as happiness or learning something new.
Unique: being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else. Logan Feys, author of “The Sociology of Leopard Man”, writes about someone who does not find comfort in the attention of society, but chooses to live his life in somewhat of solitude. Tom Leppard, is a man who is tattooed in leopard print from head to toe, he enjoys his life and doesn’t care about what outsiders think of his choice. The author continues to talk about how society pressures others to change to fit in and how it can damage their psyche. Feys is not completely correct when he says “To be human is to be an individual human, with individual tastes, talents, values, and aspirations that are distinct from those of others.
Conformity In the article “The sociology of leopard man” the author makes an argument, in paragraph 6 the author stated “To be a human is to be an individual human, with individual tastes, talents, values, and inspirations that are distins from those of others. Living in society, we are under constant pressure to surrender our individuality to the will of majority, the school, the workplace, the family, etc.” In my opinion with the statement the author is making, I agree with her complete. People will usually change to fit in places they usually don’t fit in, this is the effect of people looking down on them making them feel vulnerable.
Conformity, compliance and obedience are behavioural consequences of social influence (real or imagined social pressure) that occur in the presence of a group or other individuals (Elsenbroich & Xenitidou, 2012). Often these concepts are misinterpreted as being the same or even synonymous and while they do have similarities they are also very dissimilar. In social psychology conformity, compliance and obedience are distinct concepts that coincide due to their effect on behaviour in the presence of others. Pascual, Line Felonneau, Guéguen & Lafaille (2013) define conformity as an altering of behaviour and beliefs in an individual in order to reflect the behaviour and beliefs of the group that holds influence, though Myers (2014) emphasises that
Conforming to someone or something, or even society itself, changes one’s state of mind; the way they think, talk, dress, what they listen to, how they act. Conforming to a specific change may convert all elements of a person over time. Conformity has resulted in physical harm, psychological trauma, and promoted social justice and injustice throughout history.