Conformity

Ashley Clifton Clifton 1
Andrea Wells-Edwards/ Lolly Smith
English 101 online
17 April 2009
Conformity

Every part of Society has molded our identities. Anything from how we dress to the cars we drive. There is no right or wrong way to how we should dress, nor is there a certain vehicle everyone has to drive. Society today has portrayed a certain image that ordinary people in their everyday lives think they need to use as guidelines for themselves.

In the essay “Dude looks like a lady”, the author tells us that she loves the way she looks. She cut her hair short because she was lazy, plus she thought it was cute. “What can I get ya sir”( Wilson 22)? The man at the ice cream counter automatically thought she was a man because of his image of women and she didn’t fit into that look. Wilson is strong though and doesn’t let anything make her change who she is. No one should be made fun of because of how they dress or what their hair looks like. If more people were like Wilson and didn’t let society conform her, there would be more individualists.

“Take your boy-lookin’ ass on somewhere”(Wilson 23)! That was a comment yelled to Wilson while walking down the street. This man doesn’t know Wilson, yet he pursues to judge her by the way she chooses to cut her hair. She thinks for a minute that she maybe shouldn’t continue to cut her hair. She feels like she is unadorned, but the she realizes she can’t let somebody have power over her. If she had made the decision to stop cutting her hair, she would
have been like many other people in this world. They give up on what they like to fit in to what others think you should look like.

In the essay “The F-word”, Dumas is debating on whether she should change her name so that it is more memorable and appealing to other people. She decides to change it to Julie and for awhile she likes that her name wasn’t mispronounced and people didn’t make fun of her for it. When she started college, she began using her real name again.”After three months of rejections, I added “Julie” to my resume. Call it coincidence, but the job offers started coming in”(Dumas 62). People think that because her name was different than most, that she must not be right for the job.

Once again Dumas was discriminated against just like Wilson was in her story. Society believes since there isn’t anything on T.V. or in a magazine that looks like they do or has a name like they do that it isn’t right. Having a name that you can’t pronounce shouldn’t be the deciding factor on whether or not you would get hired somewhere. Being a women and having short hair shouldn’t be a crime. Just like our teachers taught us in grade school “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”.

Our young generations of kids are being affected the most. They have grown up hearing and seeing all of these sorts of horrible things in the media, especially young girls. They see a 5’ 10’’ model that weighs 90 pounds and strives to be her. This isn’t realistic for these girls and this is why there is a problem with anorexia and bulimia. Just the other day on American idol there was a woman that didn’t “fit” into what a typical singer should look like. She was immediately criticized for what she looked like, but when she began to sing, everyone was stunned. They began apologizing for the horrible thing they said to her. This just goes to show how people are so quick to judge someone. Why can’t people just accept the fact that not everyone wants to look like a movie star or wear the “in” clothing items?

Conforming to society is all a choice people make. If no one were to ever stand out and go against the grain, everyone would look the same. Your identity is what you make of it, but the society we live in today has a massive impact on it. Wilson and Dumas rose above there problems and stood strong to what they felt was their own identity and not what other people wanted it to be. Don’t be afraid to stand out, you don’t have to justify to anyone why you are who you are. Society just needs to learn how to accept everyone without judgment.




Revised Essay

Ashley Clifton Clifton 1
Andrea Wells-Edwards/ Lolly Smith
English 101 online
17 April 2009

Conformity

In today’s society there are many different factors that may sway our identities. Choices such as the car we choose to drive, the clothes we like to wear, and even how we do our hair. There is no right or wrong way to how we should dress, nor is there a certain vehicle everyone has to drive. Society today has portrayed a certain image that ordinary people in their everyday lives think they need to conform to.”

In the essay “Dude Looks Like a Lady,”, the author tells us that she loves the way she looks. She cut her hair short because she was lazy, plus she thought it was cute. “What can I get ya sir”( Wilson 22)? The man at the ice cream counter automatically thought she was a man because of his image of women and she didn’t fit into that look. Wilson is strong though, and doesn’t let anyone’s opinions of her change who she is. Society gets images in their head of what a woman and a man should looks like. These false images come from magazines, tv shows, and movies. When a person doesn’t fit into the “look”, they are considered to be not so normal.

“Take your boy-lookin’ ass on somewhere”(Wilson 23)! That was a comment yelled to Wilson while walking down the street. This man doesn’t know Wilson, yet he still chooses to pass judgment on the way she cuts her hair. She thinks for a minute that she shouldn’t continue
to cut her hair. She feels like she is unadorned, but she quickly realizes she can’t let somebody have power over her. If she had made the decision to stop cutting her hair, she would have, once again, been conforming to what society thinks is “normal”. By not falling into the trap of conformity, Wilson has discovered her identity.

In the essay “The F-word,” Dumas debates whether she should change her name so that it is more memorable and appealing to other people. She decides to change it to Julie. For a short period of time she likes that her name wasn’t mispronounced and people didn’t make fun of her for it. When she started college and the hunt for a job, she began using her real name again.”After three months of rejections, I added “Julie” to my resume. Call it coincidence, but the job offers started coming in”(Dumas 62). Because of her identity, Dumas was declined for several jobs and it wasn’t until she added “Julie” to the resume that she was given job offers.

Dumas was discriminated against just like Wilson was in her story because of the identity that was presented to society. Society believes since there isn’t anything on T.V. or in a magazine that looks like they do or has a name like they do that it isn’t right. Having a name that can’t be pronounced shouldn’t be the deciding factor on whether or not you would get hired somewhere. Just like being a woman and having short hair shouldn’t be a crime.

The kids of this generation are being affected the most. They have grown up hearing and seeing all of these sorts of horrible things in the media, especially young girls. They see a 5’ 10’’ model who weighs 90 pounds and strives to be her. This isn’t realistic for these girls which is why more eating disorders are developing in our youth. Just the other day on Britain’s Got Talent there was a woman that didn’t “fit” into what a typical singer should look like. She was immediately criticized for her appearance, but when she began to sing, everyone was stunned. The judges franticly began apologizing for the horrible things they thought of her. This just goes to show how people are so quick to judge someone. Society as a whole can’t accept that not everyone wants their identity to be similar to those in the spot light.

Conforming to society is a choice people make. If no one were to ever stand out and go against the grain, everyone would look and act the same. One’s identity is what you make of it, but the society we live in today has a massive impact on it. Wilson and Dumas rose above their problems and stood strong to what they felt was their own identity and not what is acceptable in society.