Social_Conform

Sherri Schumacher English 101 Tues. & Thurs. 1:30-3:10 9-11-201 Social Conform Everyone has wanted to fit in or be part of a group at some point in their lives. Some, so much so, that they are even willing to change their beliefs, appearances, or family customs just to “fit in” or be “normal”. Not just our generation, but generations before us have all strived to fit into a group. The young men in the story’s “Sixty- Nine Cents” and “My First Conk” are all dealing with a similar issue of “fitting in”. In My First Conk a young Malcolm X decides to get a conk, a hairstyling process in which you apply chemicals to the scalp to make the hair straight, in order to have “white man’s hair”. He does this even though it causes him pain and burns his scalp. We still do things like this today to our bodies in order to fit in to certain groups. Some people get tattoos, others get piercings, and some even go as far as getting cosmetic surgery or Botox. In Sixty-Nine cents a young Russian boy wants so badly to be American. He works to get rid of his accent and he wants the American dream; a girl to say she likes him, to eat at McDonalds every day, and to go to Florida. He even gets angry at his family for not following the customs of our country, be eating leftover home cooked Russian food while at Mc. Donald’s. The parents even go as far as using the free napkins and straws. This boy wants to fit in so badly he wishes his family would change to conform to the norms of society. He was even happy to get rid of his accent so he could fit in. So why do people feel the need to change to fit into social norms' People are no longer happy about their differences. Everyone just wants to fit in. Have you ever changed something about who you were in order to be accepted' I know I have. I have worn glasses my entire life since I was 6 months old. In Junior High I remember I used to take my glasses off as soon as I got to the school because I didn’t want to be picked on for being different. Both boys in the stories had to learn to conform into what society thought was right, and their natural heritage and roots were sacrificed in order to conform. Later on in life Malcolm X realized this once he converted to Islam. He believed it was a step towards self degradation saying, “when I endured all of that pain, literally burning my flesh to have it look like a white man's hair. I had joined that multitude of Negro men and women in America who are brainwashed into believing that the black people are "inferior"—and white people "superior"—that they will even violate and mutilate their God-created bodies to try to look “pretty" by white standards.” Also at the end of Sixty-Nine Cents he states, “I am my parent’s son.” Meaning even though he tried so hard and wanted to be like the Americans he didn’t feel rooted. He still felt out of place. He had the money to buy himself a happy meal and he didn’t do it, instead he said the money stayed in his pocket, showing how maybe he is thinking also about saving money for emergencies like his parents. He couldn’t even talk to the Native born girls lying on the beach; even though his accent was gone it didn’t feel natural to him. The pressures that the media and society put on us to conform is enormous. Everyone feels the need to be skinner, or prettier, or have a smaller nose, or talk a different way. This world needs to start embracing our individualities instead of hiding them and changing who we are to be liked or accepted. Everyone should embrace their individuality and love themselves for who they are not trying to be what society says you should be. Malcolm X finally realized that being himself and embracing who he is and his hair is far better than being ignorant and changing yourself to please society. He now believes black men and women should embrace their naturally kinky hair and be proud in it. He goes on to say “I don't know which kind of self-defacing conk is the greater shame--the one you’ll see on the heads of the black so-called "middle class" and "upper class, “who ought to know better, or the one you'll see on the heads of the poorest, most downtrodden, ignorant black men.”