why do you try to be so non-conformist when you’re just like all the other goths so really you are conforming?
This was a really interesting question that I got on formspring, and it made me think a lot. How do you avoid being called a conformist just because you happen to fit in somewhere?
This was my answer:
You’re assuming that I try to fit in totally with all the other goths. I don’t completely fit in with them, and I’m fine with that. I find the gothic subculture fascinating, and I feel welcome and happy there. Sure, it’s because they’re people with similar interest and style to me, but I don’t “try” to be like them. I just am.
I say I’m an individual, not a total non-conformist. Everything’s a cliché these days, and nobody is completely original. That said, I can still think for myself and I make decisions based on what I want to do, not what my stereotype expects me to do, hence the title “individual”. I’m not everyone or anyone else. I’m a person, and every person on this planet is an individual in some way. People like me are just the ones who are more determined to make their own decisions in life and are generally happier because of it.
You can think what you want. Maybe to you I sound like I’m being pretentious and perhaps you still think I’m a hypocritical conformist. But I don’t “try to be so non-conformist”. I do what I want. If what I want happens to make me a goth, or a punk, or whatever label you want to give me, fine. Fitting in with a group doesn’t make me a conformist.
