One thing that we are always told in America is that it is great to be an individualist, to do "your own thing", to be a non-conformist and go against the grain and try new things and new ideas. What we are told in schools and in the books we read and the people we are told to admire is that it is cool to be "different", to be "special", to be "independent".
But if you really look at what really happens in American society is that in practice its not always easy to "stick out" and "do your thing". In the practice when you look for a job, when you go to school, even when you write an essay or even hang out with your friends, what really happens is that you really have to obey the rules, not just one time but all the time. The "rules" are a bit undefined sometimes but they are still rules and you know it when you break them.
For example: you have to wear what "regular" americans wear or else you're not respected. You have to speak "standard english" or people look down on you. You have to remove your accent or anything that makes you "different" or else people look at you funny and sticks into a bin and put a label on you.
Its true for anyone who "sticks out" by the way. Like if you're white but you wear long hair and wear hippy clothes and a beard then ppl will label you. If you're latino and have an accent or if you're black or asian then you automatically "stick out". But if on top of that you try to show too much your individuality (like you wear a big afro hair or a bandanna or some huge ring on your neck) then people say you are too much different and you don't "integrate" into american society.
Basically it's only once you are rich and famous that you can really display your difference the obvious way. But otherwise if you try to be too different then people reject you.
This also goes within groups by the way. Like if you are black but you try to stick out from what some other blacks expect blacks to do or act then you also stick out. Or if you're latino and you dont speak spanish. Or if you're asian and you go into "asian stuff" etc...
I would like your thought on that. Because to me theres a bit of a confusion and some double talk going on there.
If American society really valued "non-conformists" and "individuality" then they wouldn't expect everyone to be cookie cutter copy and do like everyone else and "integrate" into the same mold. They would really look at people as individuals and not worry about differences and even celebrate it. And they would look instead at what the person does and produce and gives to the society.
This reminds me of a good song:
As soon as you're born they make you feel small By giving you no time instead of it all Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all A working class hero is something to be A working class hero is something to be
They hurt you at home and they hit you at school They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool Till you're so ------- crazy you can't follow their rules A working class hero is something to be A working class hero is something to be
When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years Then they expect you to pick a career When you can't really function you're so full of fear A working class hero is something to be A working class hero is something to be
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV And you think you're so clever and classless and free But you're still ------- peasants as far as I can see A working class hero is something to be A working class hero is something to be
There's room at the top they are telling you still But first you must learn how to smile as you kill If you want to be like the folks on the hill A working class hero is something to be A working class hero is something to be
If you want to be a hero well just follow me If you want to be a hero well just follow me
It's the pursuit of knowledge, forming your own opinions, following your own dreams, and expressing what you truly think and feel that make you an individual.
Someone completely misunderstood the term, "individual." Nothing about the clothes you wear or your hairstyle can ever, possibly make you an individual. It's the pursuit of knowledge, forming your own opinions, following your own dreams, and expressing what you truly think and feel that make you an individual. And besides, no one ever said it was easy.
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