Here's a bit of Social Psychology for ya!

I wrote a kick-ass paper for Social Psychology this past week, and I feel like sharing it. Please don't steal it because I worked really hard on it! (And if you do steal it, I'll hunt you down and pry off your fingernails and toenails one-by-one with a pair of pliers. :])

Conforming to the Nonconformist Image:
The Development of a Teenage American Punk

Blue hair? Check. Black-painted fingernails? Check. Tickets to the Green Day concert? Check. An “I don’t care” attitude? Check. With most of my image completed, there was only one thing left to do to be considered a true teenage American punk: become a full-blown anarchist.
Herein a problem was presented: how could I be a punk if I didn’t believe in anarchy? Despite my recent behavior changes (acting out aggressively, resisting authority figures, showing a general decrease in concern for others, etc.), I had always been a believer of justice, order, morality, and peace. I knew that without rules, society would collapse – two years of AP United States History had provided me with more than enough evidence of this. Yet, to the punk society, any person or institution which tries to control people’s beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors must be destroyed. Authority lies in the individual – screw everybody else who tells you otherwise.

As a young, fresh punk convert, the pressure was intense. I was of low status in the punk world, so there was much I had to do to prove myself to my elder rebels. Image is one part of the identity, but as I previously stated, I had that part down. It was the attitude thing I was missing. Though I personally disagreed with the idea of anarchy, there was no way I could publicly reject it and still wish to be accepted by the punk community. Belief in anarchy is the group norm. You never hear of a punk supporting totalitarianism or a dictatorship; most punks barely even tolerate American democracy. Vastly outnumbered by the punk-anarchists, I decided to hide my preference for rules and structure and to support the fight for individuality and disorder. And to show my dedication to the cause, I purchased a belt decorated with the anarchy symbol.

The best way to explain the reasons for my compliance would be to examine the particular occasion on which I purchased the belt. I walked into Spencer Gifts well-aware of the store’s reputation as the premier retail outlet for rock memorabilia, gag gifts, and sexual paraphernalia. People go to Spencer’s to buy items which define their personality and push the limits of social norms. Not only does the store reflect our culture’s value of individuality, but it also encourages the punk ideals of nihilism, mischief, and rebellion. In going into that store, I essentially surrounded myself with a representation of the community of which I was trying to become a member. I was subject to the influence of punks all across America, even though they were not physically present and even though I had never even met them.

Additionally, I experienced pressure from a smaller, more immediate group: the people in the store. There were about five or six other shoppers, and while they were not punks themselves, I felt the need to distance myself from their normalcy by showing off my alternative lifestyle choice. I also desired to impress the store clerk, who, clad in a sleeveless Misfits shirt, torn Dickies pants, a studded belt, and multiple facial piercings, looked like a true punk. It is clear to me now that what I felt at the time was Normative Influence, as I wanted to fulfill the shoppers’ expectations of what a punk was, and I yearned to be accepted by the clerk as a fellow member of his community. I was also prey to Informational Influence in that I accepted the reality that punks support anarchy, and, wanting to be a “correct” punk, I chose to make a public response by outwardly displaying solidarity through a clothing accessory.

But why me? Why did I fall victim to conformity? My attitudes certainly did not reflect punk ideologies, but then again, social psychologists have found that attitude rarely predicts behavior. I believe that my age was partly to blame. It is a pretty widely accepted idea that the teenage years are a time of questioning previously held values and beliefs and forming a more distinct identity. At 15-years-old, I was a prime subject of this process. Up until then, I had been known as the “good girl”: I went to Catholic school, I got excellent grades, I enjoyed spending quality time with my family, and I was kind to everybody. When I realized that very little of my hard work and good deeds were being recognized, and when it became evident that this “goody two-shoes” social role was not exactly desirable in high school, my self-esteem plummeted and I grew resentful of my peers and those who had failed to support my efforts – primarily, my parents and teachers. I soon found solace in punk rock because I could identify with the anger and frustration expressed in the music. While it was easy enough to change my image and behavior to match my music preference, the last step of adopting the punk belief in anarchy was more difficult because I possessed conflicting values. However, I think it was my disappointment in my parents and teachers which allowed me to justify my compliance. According to punk ideology, parents and teachers are representatives of a larger oppressive force, and so I used this logic to conclude that if they were my enemy, all authority figures must be my enemy. Even if my logic was not strong, it was enough to convince me that wearing a belt that endorsed anarchy was acceptable.

My personality is the other contributor. While I have always shown a rebellious streak and a thirst to be different (like when I chose to be the only bat, amongst plenty of bunnies and kitties, in my pre-school’s production of Jan Brett’s short story “The Mitten”), I have also always felt a need to gain others’ approval. Additionally, while I rarely go out of my way to get noticed, I really enjoy getting attention. I think these personality qualities explain why, of all social groups, I identified with the punk community. Punks are the outcasts of society. By becoming one of them, I could differentiate myself from the rest of society, but I could also feel a sense of belonging in a smaller community. Furthermore, I could get attention by barely doing anything more than dying my hair and buying new clothes. Yet it was my need for approval which pushed me to make the full conversion and buy the anarchy belt. I needed to conform to every aspect of the social role in order to be accepted by my punk peers.

With the pressures of group size, unanimity of beliefs, status, and public response weighing on my shoulders, and with my age and personality making me especially vulnerable, I grabbed the anarchy belt from the rack and approached the punk-clerk at the check-out counter. “$14.99,” he said, and I handed him the money. As he bagged my purchase, he looked up at me with a smirk. “What?” I asked with a pinch of attitude. “You know,” he said, his smirk growing into a grin, “if you were a true anarchist, you would have stolen this belt.”

Though I felt horribly embarrassed and insulted at the time, I look back on this memory and laugh at the irony. The clerk was completely right: I was attempting to make myself different from society by making myself similar to a group of people which society deems to be “different.” In trying to become a nonconformist, I ultimately ended up conforming to the standards of the punk community. What a conundrum! Luckily, I grew out of that phase and realized what a walking contradiction I was. Yet, punks still hold a special place in my heart. I do not condemn the punk scene because I think that it is simply misunderstood, and its ideals widely misconstrued. While many understand the term “punk” to mean rebelling against authority and endorsing wide-spread destruction and disorder, I hold a different definition. To me, “punk” means never compromising yourself in the face of adversity. Punk is liking what you like, doing what you do, and being the person you want to be. And screw everybody else who tells you otherwise.