I turn my head and see a streak of blouse and miniskirt flouncing by, its wearer dark and supple with the tan of a Pittsburgh January and luxuriously blonde from the bottle of her favorite stylist. Her male companion wears a sweater that cost him more than the herd of sheep from whence its essential material came, with baggy blue jeans marked with the name of a certain Hilfiger fellow, and shoes pioneered by one Dr. Martin, likely a prominent podiatrist somewhere in the world. The girl giggles airily and shoves her companion playfully with a hand accented by newly (and plastically) long, manicured, French-tipped nails.
A small wonder it is indeed that she did not lose her balance in so doing, for her towering shoes elevate her feet to such an alarming angle that I am scarce able to understand exactly how she is able to walk. They continue sauntering along together, linking arms and looking reminiscent of a modeling photo shot for that certain Aber o-something-or-other clothing store, only in color and live action. I conjecture the communal price of their clothing and fashionable accessories. On second thought, I do not even want to conjecture; I have quite enough of an idea. “‘The virtue in most request is conformity,’ ” I think to myself, repeating the adage mentioned by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his essay on Self-Reliance, “and from that standpoint, this is a very ‘virtuous’ couple indeed.” Emerson precedes himself in wisdom.
I heartily agree with his standpoint on conformity. Society today encourages many different aspects of compliance, but perhaps the most prominent one is conformity of appearance. There are societal standards for males, females, young and old that make them either ideal or outlying, and most of these standards are dependent upon cosmetic appearance. Ours is a superficial society, a manufactured American view of perfect people and perfect beauty thrives almost universally unbounded by resistance, whether passive or powerful. The manners in which people conform to the society’s image of beauty are many, including cosmetics, fashions of clothing and shoes, hair styles, modish colors; everything down to the size of purse a woman carries is first spotted in a magazine and then purchased and used once deemed to be worthy of public sight.
Outlandish fashions become the mode primarily because they are advertised as being “the things you simply cannot live without!” It is a universal truth that fashion is a form of ugliness so hideous that it must be changed every four months; but the public is content to stay within the confines of the current trend in order to conform, and not necessarily because the fashion is attractive. The people, as sheep, allow themselves to be herded. Emerson, in his essay, “Self-Reliance,” urges men and women alike to cast off the confines of a conform-oriented society, aligning himself with the Transcendentalist tenet of individualism. He asks that the individual promote himself and his own ideas, albeit if these are not the ideas considered to be normal or fashionable. In order to free his own sense of individualism and to liberate his mind, his thoughts, and the expression thereof, man must ignore conformity, “the virtue in most request,” and endeavor to please himself by trusting his own intuition, thoughts, tastes, and morals. This is a belief that now seems to be held by naught but a thin (and wise) minority of people; but it is they who are the possessors of the greatest wisdom, the possessors of the greatest sense of Self, and, when the day is done, the possessors of the largest wallets..
