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Positive and negative effects of social change
Societal influence
Social influence, a type of social influence that leads to conformity
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Be different; Be judged
Being different. We all want to be accepted but we all want to be ourselves. How can we really be ourselves? What does it mean to be individual? Are any of us being unique and true to our colors? Raise your hand if you think you are being true to yourself everyday of your life. We are all influences on each other. A lot of us are keeping our comrades and even ourselves from showing our little stars. We all have a little star in us but society keeps dimming the light we are giving off. Does someone love you if they encourage you to change and then judge you when you do? The truth is that friends just want you to feel better because their first intention wasn’t to hurt or judge you. Humans subconsciously judge others, it’s encoded in our DNA.
Friends. Real ones never hurt you or try to change you. In Jerry Spinelli’s book, Stargirl, the main character, Leo Borlock tried to change Stargirl and tried to make her something she was not. Although this change is beneficial to Leo, Stargirl is suffering by being someone that she doesn’t want to be. Stargirl is not Su...
social groups. Whenever someone is placed in a situation where a certain stereotype can be
On the other hand, ideally one should be true to one’s heart, if Disney’s Mulan is to be believed. But these are neither solid pieces of advice nor wise counsel; they are at best hand-wavy, wishy-washy statements that offer no guidance on traveling the minefield that is remaining true to oneself. In fact, given the wide swath of human experiences, it is difficult to imagine a panacea effective for each and every trial and tribulation people may encounter in maintaining the integrity of their identities; personally, I don't think one exists. Just as there are myriad events, emotions, and memories from which one’s identity develops, it surely follows that there are just as many ways social norms act to compromise one’s individuality, ostensibly for the worse. Therefore, it seems that an indirect solution would best serve individuals filled and bombarded with doubt about who they really are; namely, the unwavering support of a community would allow individuals to resolve, on their own terms, their inner conflicts stemming from outward
The story begins with a new girl at school. The story is told by another 10th grader, Leo Burlock. Susan Caraway, better know as Stargirl, is a 10th grader who has just come to Mica Area High School wearing a pioneer type dress, strumming her ukulele, and carrying her pet rat, Cinnamon, on her shoulder.
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.
...our acceptance of different types of individuals and their beliefs. Furthermore, learning more about different types of influences and cultures.
author Alexander Robbins states: “From the age of five children increasingly exclude peers who don’t conform to group norms. Children learn this quickly. A popular Indiana eighth grader told me ‘I have to be the same as everybody else, or people won’t like me anymore’” (150). The human brain is wired such that children will end friendships with kids that they find different. Robbins finds this behavior to be undesirable saying that it is not only unappealing, but it is a cop-out. In agreement with Robbins, parents across the world, organizations, and teen movies tell society that conformity is bad and that children should not conform to the group, rather they should stand alone and be individuals. However, Solomon Asch’s study may have discovered why this is. He concluded that: “The investigations described in this series are concerned with the independence and lack of independence in the face of group pressure” (1). Asch determines that in the face of pressure people are more apt to conform.
Everybody wants to be accepted, yet society is not so forgiving. It bends you and changes you until you are like everyone else. Society depends on conformity and it forces it upon people. In Emerson's Self Reliance, he says "Society is a joint stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. " People are willing to sacrifice their own hopes and freedoms just to get the bread to survive.
Being yourself. Being a menace to society. Being yourself and not caring about what the outside world thinks of you.You yourself being an original person. I felt exactly like this when my friends did not like any of the things that I did. As I look back at the situation there were a lot of things that I would have done differently. I would have tried my best to be there friends to be able to prevent myself from going on a long journey which would ultimately be a guilt trip. Even though this incident led to something that I will not regret I could have handled the situation better than I did before. I could have prevented all of this just by not being so unacceptable to others and having them accepting my decisions. Also, by accepting their decisions. At the time I had trouble with this and this exactly what I needed to push myself out of this state of mind. I let them be them and me me be me. I am an
When reading Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, it is instantly understood that you have control of not only being yourself, but being true to yourself. In the novel, Stargirl left a great legacy in MICA High School and all the people living around in general. So after reading Stargirl, we can understand that individuality and truthfulness to yourself is important to everyone around and most of all,
Individualism and conformity--two very commonly used terms to describe anyone in today’s time. 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). To be truthful, conformity and nonconformity are used to determine a person’s inner-being, but every person is different, and in this case people will not always agree with each other on how they should live.
To be put in a place of no diversity is detrimental and damaging to many aspects of one’s life. It comes to a point where one doesn’t even know themselves. By not having people different from who you are, you aren’t being challenged or reflecting on your own identity. By the lack of integration we are ultimately hurting ourselves. Audre Lorde says in her essay, The Fourth of July, that her parents ignored the prevalent racism, she says, “perhaps it would go away, deprived of her attention(Lorde 255).” By ignoring and not facing what is in front of her she is depriving herself of truly knowing her self. She is exhibiting the ignorance of the world around and within her. Hurston describes how she sometimes feels discriminated against but it doesn’t really make her angry, rather, “it merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? (Hurston 188)” again people are not making the necessary steps into meeting new people. Just think about the number of missed opportunities that occur when we aren’t able to make the move. Our existing prejudices and stereotype is what is hold us back from the acknowledgement of others, which leads to a detrimental state for our own sense of identity. How do we learn about our selves? The answer is through reflection; this reflection happens through seeing how others view themselves. In a world where people are separated, misjudged and misperceived, we
You are as others see you, yet others do not always see you as you are. With the importance others play on the sense of identity, it's no wonder that peers influence the minds of individuals early on in life. As young toddlers, children do not recognize biological
Stereotypes, it happens everyday with people not even realizing it. Everyone has a set of friends they feel comfortable associating with. The way people choose who to be around with is generally that group has common interests with the person. For example, a new kid at a school can easily find friends he is comfortable with just by observing how they are. Stereotyping can help in many other ways. It can help with troubling situations because it will make it easier to find help with a group of people you...
Conformity is defined as behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards. This is not a good or bad thing, this just is. It exists as a compliment to earlier humans congregating into larger groups, using agriculture and domestication to create sustenance. Also, conformity is essential for life. We need people to share the same ideas, ideologies and a way of thinking in order to work efficiently and effectively. There many examples that exist like, at work or in your house and even within yourself. Sigmund Freud has explained the phenomena of group psychology in a piece titled, Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego. Using Freud’s theory of conformity I will explain the self, what we call “me”,and its different constituents using The Principles of Psychology by
“We, as human beings,must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves.” Barbara Jordan. People shouldn’t be judged by the way they are or the way they act. In this essay I will analyze that just because people are different from you doesn’t you treat them different. Everyone has their own personality that’s what makes everyone unique because we’re all different. Like in the story “Texas v. Majority Opinion” people fought to keep the American flag but others wanted the flag burned. People have the right to speak their minds and fight for what they believe in to protect the things they cherish most. Like in the short story by Etgar Keret “What of This Goldfish Would You Wish?” some people like things that other people don’t and some people like to stay away from other people because they don’t want to be around all the drama or to get judged by other people.