Are you a sheep, a conformist?

Sorry If this isn't the right board to put this in, I wasn't sure what board it should go into....So if its wrong. my apologies

Are you a sheep? Conforming to fit in? Giving up who you are inside to feel the basic need of acceptance? How many of us can say we are an individual? That we are, are own self, not influenced by the TV, the trends, people? Not many or almost none can.

It has become a “new trend” to be an individualist. We’re trying to be a person who stands out in the crowd and is different than all others. Whether you are part of the Emo click, the just your averages Joe’s click, the popular click, the nerds click, the Who gives a rats arse click… Pick any one of these, or add a new one to the list…either way we are conforming to stand out. Oxymoron?, indeed it is.

We all try to be different than everyone else…we are by nature all different; though, we are all the same too. We have the same basic needs and wants as every other person out there. We all seek to go out of our norm and seek new things….this is how and why we find the “clicks” our friends.

Looking at today’s kids and young adults, we’ve become fascinated with the idea of being an individual. Which, don’t get me wrong is a good thing. Though, what I find funny is that it’s a cliché. It’s been a cliché ever since the beginning of time. Taking the stand to stand out for ones beliefs, characteristics, and habits and not conforming to fit in, yet we all do it.

Let’s look at one of the clicks I listed above…let’s take the “Emo” group. We’ve got a whole bunch of people who are trying to be individual by getting piercing, tattoos, coloring their hair, wearing tight cloths, wearing unique accessories all to try to stand out; Yet, they all group together. Each person in that group is trying to be different than the other person. Maybe better, or even more life hating than the other. Whatever it is, this group is no longer a group of individuals. You’ve got a group of people that dress the same, act the same, listen to the same type of music and even maybe like all the same foods. They are no longer the individual they sought out to be. They are now classified as the Emo group.

This even goes beyond just being in a specific group. We as society conform and mold ourselves to others standards. Women conform to the ideas of what “beauty” is, what fashions are “in” style and how we should act to fit the mold of being a woman. The same goes for men. They conform to what a man has to act like, look like, activities you should like and how you should speak.

In my opinion, everyone is a conformist, a sheep in the way of conforming to society. We can’t help it, we all long to be accepted and treated like an equal by our peers. Not one of us can say we are a complete individual from a group or society. We all are in some way. We can’t help but find the things we see in the media appealing and want to buy the things that make us feel “cool” or feel like we fit in better. We can’t help it when we pick up the new word trends come that come around, or any new trend for that matter.

So, the question is can you say that you aren’t a sheep? That you aren’t a conformist? Can you say that to its true and full extend?

Is it possible not to conform? If you choose not to conform, aren’t you conforming to another group of non conformists?

Is it in our natural ways to conform just to conform, or are we always specific on why we do conform to something?

Herea web site that gives an idea of why we comply to conform
Hereis another web site on freedom and conformity
Hereare views of social controls…conformity

Anywho....thats my .2
Lemme know what you think about it.

MissAshleyDear

Yeah, wrong place. This'll be in Skunkworks soon.

Just from observing people, I can say that I've never met a completely "Normal" person. Everyone, including you, conform to much of what society expects of us... we need to fit in and function with those around us.... but everyone has their own little Weirdness, their own Twist.

Don't just judge a person by shallow things like them working 9-to-5 or the music they listen to, or the clothes they wear. Every person is deeper than that.

Originally posted by emjoi
Don't just judge a person by shallow things like them working 9-to-5 or the music they listen to, or the clothes they wear. Every person is deeper than that.

That wasn't my point, nor was I judging. There is a lot more to people than just what music they listen too, or what clothes they wear. My point was....

Is it possible not to conform to fill a basic need. Is it habit to just mold ourselves to a group to feel accepted. Is it possible not to conform, even with all the mass media and convincing people surrounding us.

That was my point...my question

MissAshleyDear

I am a conformist...to a degree, as I live and work in a large city and must be part of that to survive and make a living.

A sheeple...definately not. I have always had my own style and taken pride in my individuality. I have instilled this into my sons and they are individuals too. I refuse to eat and drink what the television subliminally tells me to; I take with a grain of salt most of what I read and see in the mainstream media.

I refuse to accept all my government tells me, I am awake to the BS they spin and the lies they spread. I refuse to play their stupid games and have often had to stand up for my rights quoting their own laws etc back at them. I do not like my personal information stored and gathered for future purposes. I am critical of globalisation and the loss of my country's identity.

I am a political activist and take every opportunity to champion the underdog when I see that it is fair and just to do so.

I am not an anarchist, I am just weary of the BS and I am weary of some people's attitudes towards their fellow man.

I work hard at not being a sheeple...but as I pay taxes and have a social security number I guess I am a conformist...not what I wish to be.


[edit on 12-1-2007 by resistancia]

I don't know where I would fall on the scale to be honest.

I fancy myself an individual, but I've gone through various stages of self invention myself. - everything from new waver to punk to industrial primitive.

There has been the general theme through all these transformations of being a culture warrior, and the dress and ideologies I used when I was younger were nothing more than external identifiers of my unsaid opinions and philosophies - it helped to attract other like minded individuals.

Now I'm in my thirties and content with just being me - even though someone out there will find some convienent term and stereotype to lump me into as they see fit.

I still wear my ratty old boots, ripped jeans, have a flannel shirt somewhere in my closet and I still refuse to participate in the whole materialistic consumer trend machine.

These days, I'm so dated to the younger generation I have to laugh at their double blind assertations of rebellion - but who knows what my elders thought of me when I was a kid?

Strange world, indeed.


Some things never change.

I for one, I know I am a conformist. I know that I can't help but see a brand new 2007 BMW and go "Oh I want that" for reasons that are subliminal and conscience. Conscience reasons…well they’ve got balls and are uber fast cars, but subliminal we associate expensive things to being “higher up” in the scale of life. So I think that no matter how much I tell myself that I am an individual and there is no one else out there like me, that I refuse to conform to society, I do unknowingly.

I lead my own life, do my own things, be the person who i am.
I got badly bullied at school when i was a kid, i had bad spots back then and couldn't afford all the latest fashion and stuff, i desperately tried to do what other people did and try to fit in, but they had judged me already and there was little i could do to change things.
So my life at school was a misery, there has alwasy been fighting in my family between the other members and my mother was never supportive of me throughout my life (she has a lot of her own issues), so i could never rely on other people to help me. When i left school i was fed up with life. I was tired of being judged solely on my appearance!
My confidence and self esteem had been completely destroyed during my school years, so much so that i felt very suicidal and alone for much of my life, but before i gave up on life i decided to make one last go at being happy. So after a break i pulled myself together again and made a new start to my life- i wiped the slate clean. I did what i want- i went to college, made lots of friends, met my fiance, moved out of home and left college, got a job and got my own place to stay. I decided the only way to be confident was to do confident things, and to have good self esteem i had to feel good about the things i was doing and my life in general.

Everyone wants to be accepted and liked by others at least at some point in their lives, every human being in this world needs love, and i am no exception. Different people go about reaching this goal in different ways. But in my life i found no happiness in trying to conform and be the person that other people wanted me to be. I also found no happiness in completely rebelling against the system. So now days i put too much emphasis on the rules, i still acknowledge what other people want or expect of me, but when it comes down to it i will only do what i feel happy about doing (when i have a choice in the matter of course though). I like being a nice person, but thats who i am- i've experienced a lot of what the nasty and evil side of human nature has to offer, and to be honest i want no part in it. I don't want to put others through what i have experienced in my life.
You need to have self-respect and acknowledge/find the person you are, do some soul searching, and find a place in your world where you feel happy in. Avoid judging people before you truly know them. Find a goal/s in life that you can work to, and show compassion and tolerance to others whenever you can.






[edit on 13-1-2007 by Tokis Phoenix]

[edit on 13-1-2007 by Tokis Phoenix]