Maslow’s Needs of Hierarchy state that as human beings, we desire to be accepted and belong to a group. In doing so we conform. We as people have the need to feel like we fit in and belong somewhere. So we pick a person, or a group of people, we want to be like whether we realize it or not and we alter ourselves to be like them. The clothing we wear, who we are, and our thought processes can all be changed by the people we choose to spend our time with. In fear of rejection from society we find ourselves changing to become something other than ourselves. As time goes on, we lose who we really are, we forget the real reason as to why we’re doing what we’re doing. I believe that conforming is inevitable. 

Social norms are something we all conform to whether you think about it or not. This became evident to me in middle school while shopping with my mom. The entire time we were shopping all I could think was “All of the girls wear this brand of jeans, I need these jeans” or “My friends all have this shirt”.  I was trying so hard to become someone else, and did not realize that I am my own person.  We all have a desire to be a part of something, like we belong with a group of people that are somewhat similar to us. That share the same hobbies or interests. So, we conform to fit in. We change our appearances to become somebody else. We aren’t all individuals so much as a whole trying to find our place in the world, and in that sense we lose our individualism.

People strive to be the best at what we aren’t. Young girls and boys pick an idol at a young age and attempt to be just like them. Superheroes, Barbie, TV characters from their favorite shows, anybody that they think is cool or interesting in some way is who they strive to be. As time goes on and those children become older, they pick new people to idolize. As teenagers the same thing happens but the pressure to become a better person is more evident. Society pressures us to conform to a group of people. If we don’t, we’re pushed away as outcasts. Occasionally there are those people, who don’t conform at all and don’t belong into any social group. Sometimes they’re even brought up in conversations, those conversations usually end with someone saying “I wonder what ever happened to them”.  Our existence revolves around being someone else, someone were not, someone we weren’t meant to be.
  

Our thoughts of right and wrong are instilled in us at a young age. Usually we take after our parents, and our parents take after their parents. Religion is a major influence in most people’s lives, but that’s not the only things that influences your thoughts and ideas. Our friends and knowledge can change our ideas and thoughts as well. The more we know, the more our thoughts change. As we become informed we can create our own ideas, form new opinions, and make our own decisions. A child has no sense of right and wrong until they can comprehend the effects of their decisions. I specifically remember in kindergarten, when the presidential election was taking place, our teacher thought it would be a fun idea to vote for who we wanted to be the new president. To vote we checked the box next to the name of the candidate we wanted to win and slipped into a box. As I was waiting in line, for my turn to vote, I had heard some girls behind me talking about who they were going to vote for. Naturally wanting to be like everybody, else I started to second guess myself. I thought, “Maybe I’m choosing the wrong person, I should just vote for whatever they choose.” At a young age we are so easily convinced to conform, because we have no prior knowledge to make our own educated decision. As we get older we become more of individuals for a while, but eventually we jump right back in with the rest of society.  There is no escape from conformity it engulfs us from all angles of life.

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” (Emerson) Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote about how people conform and how the idea of conforming doesn’t change throughout life, but it’s how it takes form. The way we talk, walk, dress, and think is all altered by our close ones and important influential figures. Unfortunately there’s not much that anybody can do about the problem.  No matter how hard we try there will always be some way that we conform. There’s a label for everybody and there’s no escape from it.