After a long discussion in class today, I’ve decided to write my blog on trends. Personally, I am an extremely influenceable person. I buy most “trending” things and participate in many other “trends’ ‘. Trends are sometimes long-term and other times they only last a week. I have many old trend items that sit in the back of my closet collecting dust now. When VSCO was a trend I was very VSCO and I was very alt/indie when it was trending. Many of the clothes I wore during those times now sit in the back of my closet. I have been wanting money recently so I have been selling a lot of old clothes and buying clothes second hand at thrift stores and on depop. Trends truly do fascinate me, stores will be completely sold out for months and companies will create new lines just based on trends. The power social media has over what people buy and wear shocks me. One example of this is the well known green and navy brandy striped sweater. This sweater was extremely sought after and was very “trendy”, it was rare to find at in-person brandy locations and it was sold out online too. People who owned the sweater started selling it for much more on Depop and Poshmark and people spent way too much money on a simple striped sweater. Aerie also came out with a “dupe” for this sweater and it sold extremely well. To some it up trends fascinate me and the power of something being “trendy” also shocks me.
Tag: trends
Conformity: the Social Evil?
All of us can easily find an example of conformity in our lives.
However, it is depicted as destructive and discouraging most of the time. Why does it have such a negative connotation?
After World War 2, when the men came back from the army and had become accustomed to community solidarity and conformity, a heavy social atmosphere was created, in which non-conformists were often treated as social outcasts.
However, such an unstable social atmosphere, which eventually built the limit to individual creativity and freedom, was soon criticized, and conformity was considered as a factor of it.
Published in 1948, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson gives an extreme example of an indoctrination. In “The Lottery,” as an old custom, a town annually holds a lottery, of which the winner receives a brutal death by his close neighbors and families.
However, no one knows the purpose of the murder or questions it.
Illustrating the townspeople’s insensitivity to the tradition’s cruelty and irrationality under conformity pressure, Jackson shows the perils of people being conformists without thinking critically about the consequences.
As individuality and freedom have been highly respected in the 21st century, in 2015, conformity does not oppress people as much.
Rather, unlike its general impression, it might have some positive influence on people while they do not recognize it.
Conformity can reduce the new kinds of social pressure. For example, a lot of teenagers distress themselves thinking about how to express themselves as outstanding individuals.
They worry about their looks constantly, and those of who are not able to follow the trends often feel very insecure about themselves. Wearing uniforms, which is viewed as a form of conformity these days, can change the pressure to a sense of fitting in.
Conformity can create a culture. Since humans are highly socialized animals, they constantly build their cultures as they interact with each other.
Today, information floods, and things change fast. New technologies are developed every day, and unfamiliar trends spread all over the globe in one day.
Therefore, people who cannot catch up with the fast-changing trends might feel lost in society.
Then, conformity can function as a standard; it offers people opportunities to stay in the majority without particularly standing out.
It is true that conformity created a great social pressure in the past. However, as our society has changed a lot, it is important look at it from a different viewpoint.
Conformity can have some good effects on our society unlike its negative impression.
Not to be Taken Lightly
Isn’t it weird how you can think yourself into a bad mood? You can spend all day talking about happy things, and putting off a “put together” front. But in reality, the way that you talk to yourself when you’re all alone is what counts.
People are on medication to get out of the very real and dark place that depression is. And on websites like Tumblr, every other post seems to be about how depression is cool and interesting. I think that as a society we should focus more of our attention on things that grow us as humans. Depression is a very real thing, not a trend.
As someone who has had the fortune of never being in that dark of a place, I sympathize with people who are, or have been. I think that these days depression is a trend. Why is that? Why are teenagers trying to act in a way that a lot of adults spend years trying to fix?
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