Conformity, Across the Universe, and Glue

I'm trying to start this organization on my campus called SHADOW (Students Helping to Abate the Destruction Of Women). A big topic I'll be covering is the media and how it hurts people, especially women. I feel very strongly about that particular issue and for a long time have faught against the image the media puts out for women. I also have rebelled against society and refused to conform to meny trends. For example, I do not purposely go tanning, I have not bought and will not buy Ugg Boots, I don't get regular manicures and don't want to, and I'm not begging my daddy for hot red convertable and a pink $50000000 phone/sidekick/whothehellevenknows.

But there are a few problems.

The other day, I was sitting in the car with  my friend Sam talking about how I feel when it comes to this subject. I also told her that part of me wishes I could have remined ignorant and naive about the way society treats people, especially women, because in all honesty, ignorance is bliss. I wouldn't feel like I'm living on a planet that is being destroyed by us while destroying ourselves in the process. I also said that I wish I could just conform because I would probably be a lot happier.

So, in response to that, she replied, "So just conform."

I just about flipped two shits.

I understand that this may be a little hypocritical, but I really was angry at her for saying that. I explained to her that I can't just do that because of the knowledge I have of our world, and how I would probably hate myself more for indulging in it.

And then she said, "There's nothing wrong with conformity."

And then I DID flip two shits.

Yes, there is something wrong with conformity. There's a lot of things wrong with conformity. The media destructs us to the point of women (and some men) becoming anorexic and bulemic, some people cutting and doing other self-destructive actions because they feel like they'll never fit in or they're not doing enough to be liked (I know because I used to be one of them). Some are afraid to be themselves because they're so caught up in what the media tells them to be, and they listen. Conformity restricts people from being themselves and being originial. Conformity hurts people because they want to be the one thing that the media says is beautiful or what is right, and when they're not, they hate themselves for it.

Conformity is NOT a beautiful thing. Originality is. You love someone for their perfections and their flaws, and if the person you love if like everyone else, how can you really love them?

It's so frustrating. No offence to my friend Sam (who, by the way, is the type of girl that constantly wears heels, sees nothing wrong with slutty pictures of girls, and lets her boyfriend tell her how much weight she should lose), but it's people like her that make me feel like my cause is impossible. It makes me not want to fight for it, because what's the point if no one will listen?

I feel like that girl, Lucy, in Across the Universe, when she's in the phone booth during the riot and she's yelling at her mom on the phone, screaming that no one's listening. She does so much, but you can't make people care. And if the majority of the population doesn't care, what's the point?

I just hate what our world has become, what we as the human race have become. We have so much potential, and with it, instead of making things better, we destroy them. We're destroying our Earth, and we're destroying ourselves. And the worst part? The majority of us don't care because we're too caught up in our own little perfect idea of what the world is really like. People's eyes need to be opened, but I feel as if they're all glued shut.