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Do we succumb to cultural and societal pressures as the result of being brought up as 'good little obedient children', feelings of guilt if we rebel (might hurt someone's feelings, don'tcha know) or fear of being singled out?
I had a recent conversation with my mother about how, when she would go to my school conferences, she heard the same thing from first grade through seventh about me: "she's a very bright child, but very quietly, she does exactly what she wants, when she wants-she's rebellious in her own way and she doesn't apply herself to do as well as she could".
Obedience to peer pressure, cultural pressure could be measured in degrees. Of course, we don't walk the streets naked, but then there are those who think wearing a store's name across their chest is a status symbol. Do people drink Budweiser because they truly like it or feel the need to support their favorite driver or because their friends drink it?
For the past few years, red hair has been the color of choice. Growing up, it was just another reason to be singled out. Those of us with varying natural shades of red now look like nothing more than part of the mass fad and I know that I, myself, have to answer with a 'no, I DON'T color it' quite often and get the sometime urge to go pitch black or bright purple just to go against the grain a bit.
Ask someone why they chose what they did, and you get the 'because I liked it', but I don't feel that's the whole truth. It should be more of 'well, my friends have it, so, I liked what they did and I did it too". /me shudders
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Don't blame me. I didn't vote for either of'em.
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