Nonconformist Conformity

Our Western culture values individuality. In contrast to our neighbors of the east, who believe in collectivism, we have all been brought up to believe that being unique is special. That you should strive to be different and to find things about you that set you part from other people.

This is the part where a lot of people start to stray. In an attempt to be truly different, they begin to develop subcultures of non conformity. The irony is that non conformity is what our society is all about. They are not rebelling against any social norms because our norms involve being different.

In the 70s and 80s, it was the punk rockers. They would style their hair in a Mohawk, wear a lot of leather and rage against the machine. Nowadays, it's the emo kids and all those into the indie thing. They wear tight pants and wear their hair down over their faces. For these people it is important to be different. They consider it hip to be artsy, to listen to music that isn't mainstream.

But are these subcultures really non-conformists? What is it that they're not conforming to? It's arguable that these groups are actually the conformists of our society. People who work 9 to 5's and are accused of dressing the same and being "square." Maybe these people are just trying to fit in. But more likely than not, these people aren't thinking about conformity at all.

We live in a time where the norm shifts depending no whose point of view you take. It used to be that if you got pregnant before marriage, you would have to immediately wed. Nowadays, some people do that to make themselves feel better and others simply have children out of wedlock. Both are considered normal.

So what does it really mean to conform? What are all these subcultures rallying so hard against? Nothing. The answer truly is nothing. There is no such thing as conformity in a culture that values individuality. If someone in a collectivist society abandoned their family for work, that would be non-conformity.

When people are brought together by music or clothes or perhaps a minimized inclination to shower, they consider themselves different. They are different. But that doesn't mean anything in our culture. Everyone is different and when you try so hard to fit in with your subculture, to the rest of us, you're the ones that are seen as conformists,

There is nothing about my taste in music or sense of style that makes me similar to other people. I can listen to anything from country music to show tunes and all the rock and hip hop in between. I dress in what I find most comfortable and whatever I think is cute when I go to the mall, regardless of what store it comes from.

So when I see people who will only listen to things that are not on the radio and only shop at American Apparel or Hot Topic, I see a conformist like no other in our society. They might be proud to be different because they are in fact, the minority. But in the end they're all the same.