Отверженный
Любовь к Обаме в Массачусетсе во время последних выборов была чем-то вроде всеобщего помешательства. По следам той истерии в журнале магистров и аспирантов МИТ (MIT Graduate Student News) появилась статья о студенте, который из личной мерзости представлялся в день выборов сторонником МакКейна (и соответственно Сары Пейлин, хе-хе), и пострадал из-за этого.
Going Against the Tide
Conformity is defined as a change in behavior
or belief as the result of real or imagined group
pressure. This phenomenon exists for every
single human being, often outside of people’s
awareness.. The behaviors and attitudes to
which people conform eventually becomes a
norm in society. In a group, attitudes held by
the majority eventually develop in each individual.
This conformity that takes place makes a
group, click, or posse what it is. Yet, what happens
to a member of a group refuses to conform?
What happens when there is one person
that suddenly rebels? Research suggests that because
the power of social influence is usually so
successful at producing conformity that when
people in a group are faced with the failure of
their subconscious social influences on others,
very grim characteristics are revealed. Indeed,
my own recent experience of refusing conformity
produced the most shocking results from
people whom I believed to be my true friends.
This past November, a monumental event took
place. The 2008 Presidential election was under
way, and the name on everyone’s mind was
Barack Obama. He was the topic of every discussion
and hopes for his success were widespread,
especially in cities with varying ethnic
backgrounds such as New York. Many of my
friends were thrilled that we would finally have
a black President, basically focusing their support
for him on that idea alone. I too voted for
Obama, but I decided to see what it would be
like to differ from my peers. What triggered this
idea was my observation that people’s support
for Obama was due to race, and not the things
that Obama had promised this country, which
for me were better reasons to vote for him.
On election night, with my friends, instead
of joining them in speaking of the possibility
of Obama as president and the excitement it
caused, I spoke against it. I belittled Obama and
the people who voted for him, and I praised
McCain for some of the things he believed in.
My words caused immediate shock. A normal
conversation in a living room in the CCNY
dorms turned to complete silence. All eyes
were upon me. At first, there was disbelief. Everyone
thought I was joking and disregarded
my comments. But I persevered, continuing
to show my divergence from their views. My
peers completely changed their attitudes towards
me. They looked at each other in disgust
as if what I had said was disrespectful to them.
As a group they ganged up on me, becoming
verbally abusive, and saying things like, “What
the f*** is wrong with you,” and, “Are you that
dumb to vote for McCain? Well everyone else
in NY voted for Obama so your vote didn’t
count. Why are you even here if you didn’t vote
for Obama?” I spent the rest of the night basically
ostracized from the group, lost in my own
shock that people’s reaction to me was so pervasive,
even from people that I knew for certain
had voted for McCain. Nobody stood up for
me, and those who voted for McCain basically
kept their mouths shut, and taking part in the
mutual celebration.
As the hours passed, I thought perhaps it had
been forgotten, but I still sensed some malcontent
towards me from everyone that lasted
throughout the night. Whether it involved my
asking for a favor or simply playing a card game,
I was thrown dirty looks and negative attitudes.
Even the next day, when I figured that everything
would be over, people expressed even
graduatestudentnews - march 2009
Page
more negative feelings. The morning started
out with people calling me “McCain lover” or
“Obama hater,” and some even called me racist.
When I and my friends saw other people celebrating
Obama’s victory, the point that I voted
for McCain was brought up, causing looks from
the others as though I had murdered someone. I
was told to “go away because we’re going to talk
about Obama winning and you having nothing
to do with it.” As I walked around campus for
the rest of the day, I felt as if I were in danger.
I did not know exactly what I was in fear of, but
I simply felt unsafe. The feeling was similar to
how I feel when I am in a dangerous neighborhood
where I know I do not belong. The discomfort
between and my friends and I remained
for some time. I realized that simply contradicting
the social norm had made me an outcast,
and it was disturbing to realize that people close
to me would have such a reaction.
Before I engaged in this behavior, I did not foresee
that my small action would have such a large
impact on an entire group of people. I learned
that choosing to rebel against the social norm
is potentially harmful, and basically impossible
to do successfully if you are alone. Those who
conform ostracize those who do not, and it is as
if society views those who do not conform as
insolent beings. My act of non-conformity gave
me an insight of how my own reactions and behaviors
are towards people who do not seem
“normal” to me. While at first I had no true
feelings behind my rebellion, the position of being
singled out and targeted only made me want
to stand out more and be more firm as the days
went on. It gave me a sense of pride, tempting
me to want to gather others who would support
me. At that point, I remembered what exactly
was going on, and why I chose to take such a
stand.
The anger in me that turned into pride made me
wonder. I believe that people put in such situations
develop such a strong sense of pride because
they notice the apprehension that it causes
in others. They see the aggression it brings out
and the great effort that others make to suppress
them. While I didn’t choose to take this
route, I could imagine having developed a sense
of purpose and importance simply due to the
fuss that my actions had caused. I imagine that
individuals in a similar situation might feel the
same way, which suggests that intense conflicts
which emerge between individuals may be less
about the content of their arguments, and more
about the emotional impact of being ostracized
from society. The implications of this in our society
are far reaching.
I feel that now after going through this, I will
feel more accepting of those people of different
religions, races, beliefs, sexual orientation,
and even those who I simply think wear outrageous
clothing. I hope that one day, others will
realize the cult-like side effects that conformity
brings about. Until then, unfortunate as it may
be, conformity seems pretty inevitable.
By Felix Navarro
Going Against the Tide
Conformity is defined as a change in behavior
or belief as the result of real or imagined group
pressure. This phenomenon exists for every
single human being, often outside of people’s
awareness.. The behaviors and attitudes to
which people conform eventually becomes a
norm in society. In a group, attitudes held by
the majority eventually develop in each individual.
This conformity that takes place makes a
group, click, or posse what it is. Yet, what happens
to a member of a group refuses to conform?
What happens when there is one person
that suddenly rebels? Research suggests that because
the power of social influence is usually so
successful at producing conformity that when
people in a group are faced with the failure of
their subconscious social influences on others,
very grim characteristics are revealed. Indeed,
my own recent experience of refusing conformity
produced the most shocking results from
people whom I believed to be my true friends.
This past November, a monumental event took
place. The 2008 Presidential election was under
way, and the name on everyone’s mind was
Barack Obama. He was the topic of every discussion
and hopes for his success were widespread,
especially in cities with varying ethnic
backgrounds such as New York. Many of my
friends were thrilled that we would finally have
a black President, basically focusing their support
for him on that idea alone. I too voted for
Obama, but I decided to see what it would be
like to differ from my peers. What triggered this
idea was my observation that people’s support
for Obama was due to race, and not the things
that Obama had promised this country, which
for me were better reasons to vote for him.
On election night, with my friends, instead
of joining them in speaking of the possibility
of Obama as president and the excitement it
caused, I spoke against it. I belittled Obama and
the people who voted for him, and I praised
McCain for some of the things he believed in.
My words caused immediate shock. A normal
conversation in a living room in the CCNY
dorms turned to complete silence. All eyes
were upon me. At first, there was disbelief. Everyone
thought I was joking and disregarded
my comments. But I persevered, continuing
to show my divergence from their views. My
peers completely changed their attitudes towards
me. They looked at each other in disgust
as if what I had said was disrespectful to them.
As a group they ganged up on me, becoming
verbally abusive, and saying things like, “What
the f*** is wrong with you,” and, “Are you that
dumb to vote for McCain? Well everyone else
in NY voted for Obama so your vote didn’t
count. Why are you even here if you didn’t vote
for Obama?” I spent the rest of the night basically
ostracized from the group, lost in my own
shock that people’s reaction to me was so pervasive,
even from people that I knew for certain
had voted for McCain. Nobody stood up for
me, and those who voted for McCain basically
kept their mouths shut, and taking part in the
mutual celebration.
As the hours passed, I thought perhaps it had
been forgotten, but I still sensed some malcontent
towards me from everyone that lasted
throughout the night. Whether it involved my
asking for a favor or simply playing a card game,
I was thrown dirty looks and negative attitudes.
Even the next day, when I figured that everything
would be over, people expressed even
graduatestudentnews - march 2009
Page
more negative feelings. The morning started
out with people calling me “McCain lover” or
“Obama hater,” and some even called me racist.
When I and my friends saw other people celebrating
Obama’s victory, the point that I voted
for McCain was brought up, causing looks from
the others as though I had murdered someone. I
was told to “go away because we’re going to talk
about Obama winning and you having nothing
to do with it.” As I walked around campus for
the rest of the day, I felt as if I were in danger.
I did not know exactly what I was in fear of, but
I simply felt unsafe. The feeling was similar to
how I feel when I am in a dangerous neighborhood
where I know I do not belong. The discomfort
between and my friends and I remained
for some time. I realized that simply contradicting
the social norm had made me an outcast,
and it was disturbing to realize that people close
to me would have such a reaction.
Before I engaged in this behavior, I did not foresee
that my small action would have such a large
impact on an entire group of people. I learned
that choosing to rebel against the social norm
is potentially harmful, and basically impossible
to do successfully if you are alone. Those who
conform ostracize those who do not, and it is as
if society views those who do not conform as
insolent beings. My act of non-conformity gave
me an insight of how my own reactions and behaviors
are towards people who do not seem
“normal” to me. While at first I had no true
feelings behind my rebellion, the position of being
singled out and targeted only made me want
to stand out more and be more firm as the days
went on. It gave me a sense of pride, tempting
me to want to gather others who would support
me. At that point, I remembered what exactly
was going on, and why I chose to take such a
stand.
The anger in me that turned into pride made me
wonder. I believe that people put in such situations
develop such a strong sense of pride because
they notice the apprehension that it causes
in others. They see the aggression it brings out
and the great effort that others make to suppress
them. While I didn’t choose to take this
route, I could imagine having developed a sense
of purpose and importance simply due to the
fuss that my actions had caused. I imagine that
individuals in a similar situation might feel the
same way, which suggests that intense conflicts
which emerge between individuals may be less
about the content of their arguments, and more
about the emotional impact of being ostracized
from society. The implications of this in our society
are far reaching.
I feel that now after going through this, I will
feel more accepting of those people of different
religions, races, beliefs, sexual orientation,
and even those who I simply think wear outrageous
clothing. I hope that one day, others will
realize the cult-like side effects that conformity
brings about. Until then, unfortunate as it may
be, conformity seems pretty inevitable.
By Felix Navarro