An
in-depth look at demotivational posters - Conformity
 Though
conformity often refers to behaving in a way that is socially acceptable, it
could just as well mean acting in a socially unacceptable way that happens to be
acceptable to your friends or peers. Conformity in today's world is more or less
synonymous with young people and the demotivational poster does a very good job
in stating that "When People Are Free To Do As They Please, They Usually
Imitate Each Other". Individuality, in terms of making the best of the
unique qualities we possess seems to be a fast dying trait. But why should this
be?
Unlike
most demotivational posters, the Conformity poster strikes a chord not far from
home. It seems to contain less of blatant satire than it does of fact. When
people are free to do as they please, it is a fact that they usually imitate
each other. Take a look around today at our youths and see how much of their
unique qualities lie hidden simply because they find a need to conform to what
their friends or social groups expect of them.
The
use of zebras in the Conformity demotivational poster is meant to bring out a
few facts. The greatest enemies of zebras are lions and whenever a group of
lions attack, the entire zebra herd would often run in the direction taken by
the first zebra. It seems to be a congenital behavior found in zebras and
especially those that live on the plains.
There
is a need to encourage young people to discover their individual hidden talents
which may be artistic, musical, scientific, sportive or literary. This can only
be done when they choose to open up their minds beyond what their friends and
peers require or expect of them and look beyond to see that the world is much
larger than what others expect of us. Indeed, for the world is as large as we
choose to dream and aspire.
October
2004
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