I chose to do conformity as my concept. Conformity is the act in which somebody’s attitude, appearance, behavior, beliefs, or personality is influenced by other people. I chose conformity because I feel that the biggest challenge is staying true to oneself. During the transition from middle school to high school, a lot of my friends have changed drastically to fit into their surroundings. I know that I have let myself change too, and I know it’s because of how the people around me act and appear. It’s incredibly easy to change yourself under someone else’s influence without even noticing.
Conformity can be seen everywhere, not just with me and the people around me. Trends can often influence everyone into buying or thinking the same thing. Those trends don’t just reach out and get a reaction from our town or our state; the entire world is affected by trends. People can be influenced by the persuasive advertisement of the trend, or they can be influenced by the fact that everyone is following the trend. Also, peer pressure is known as a large problem in the country. Peer pressure can influence a person into things that are similar to other people. This being said, peer pressure can be seen as an example of conformity. There are several different examples of conformity, big and small, that can be heard of around the world.
Many artists and writers produce pieces that can be seen as representing my concept. George Tooker is a famous American artist who often paints pictures of people looking the same and doing the same thing. He says that he feels like he is an observer of society, and many of his pieces represent conformity. Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk is a novel that displays conformity at different points in the story. Animal Farm by George Orwell is another novel, and its main themes are freedom and conformity. Conformity is displayed in several different novels and paintings.
