Factors of Conformity in Our Society.

We would think that in such a modern and developed world, people would be encouraged to express their individuality and independent way of thinking, but is it really so? A few factors have lead me to believe otherwise; that our society, although not directly, forces conformity upon us, without us even realizing it.

One example of that is the media. Everywhere we turn, we see images and messages that encourage us to act all act different, but they give us “tips” on what “different” and “individual” should look like. If it’s not on a billboard while walking across the street, it’s an article in this month’s Seventeen magazine. As a teenage girl, reading magazines like that all the time, I can say from my own experience that although individuality seems to be highly encouraged in their articles, conformity is forced. Magazines, television and other factors of pop culture use reverse psychology on people. It tells them to think for themselves and while they’re preaching individuality, they do it in such a way that all the kids walk into a mall and end up leaving wearing the same clothes with an Abercrombie and Fitch tag on it, listening to the same kind of music because only one kind is playing on the radio and acting all exactly the same, because they’ve seen it on TV, or read about in a magazine or on the internet.

Another way conformity is forced by our society is through religion. We are told by our preachers what is the right and what is the wrong way to act, how to act in certain situations, and what to say. Believing that someone other then you can tell what is right for you, encourages conformity and a lack of responsibility for your own actions. If a religion preaches being your own person, by actions and by words, prohibits women to wear pants, and only allows them to wear skirts, how independent and individual are they? For instance, if someone was to speak up against this, which shows someone thinking “outside the box” and wear pants, instead of a required skirt, some religions would not only make the person believe they would end up in hell, or make them be very sorry for this “sin” that they committed, they would take disciplinary actions. The religion is preaching being your own, independent, good person, and yet tells us what the ideal “good person” is and how we should act to make ourselves closer to that image, and frightens us if someone tries to go against or question what is being taught. People are discouraged to think independently