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Conformity In Today's Society

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Individuality and conformity is an age long struggle between what a society wants to be and what society is supposed to be. Conformity is considered by some as an inevitable, social trap. However, individuality is the ability to overcome the monotony of society. In so many instances in society, conformity stems from fear. Society fears rejection, criticism, and judgement. Admittedly, those who conform do not run the risk of being ostracized by peers. This is most prevalently seen in the classroom where "schools, students, and sometimes parents rear these nonconformists like second class citizens", which can lead to suppression of individuality under unfair expectations (Robbins 164). On the first day of school, students are taught to conform to each other. They are taught to follow the leader, speak up, remain quite. However, conformity can also cause a person to be something or someone they are not. In the pursuit for conformity, one can loose their sense of self and unique cultural identity along the way. In today's modern culture, actions, appearance, and especially names can lead a person's to be scrutinizes, stereotyped, and categorized by peers. As seen in Wajahat's article, Wajahat in recognizes the importance in keeping one's cultural identity and "gave [his son] a symbolic; honorable Muslims name", he also states that there is no need to …show more content…

In a society similar to the one seen in "Harrison Bergeron", individuality is the most priceless thing anyone could have. Only after letting go of conformity, can a person "become what [they] can become", only after breaking these chains of society can a person truly be free ( Vonnegut 4). Individuality cannot coexist in a society run by absolute conformity. The ballerina in Harrison Bergeron had a "voice [which] was a warm, luminous, timeless melody" but due to the society she lived in, she had to alter her voice to be absolutely

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