We’ve had some beautiful weather lately and with it comes the motorcycles. There is something red-white-and-blue and apple pie about a guy on a motorcycle. The image screams out the freedom and individuality we seem to hold dear in the country. Or that’s what I was thinking as a burly guy passed me on his Harley chopper, deep cut leather vest, biceps bulging as he gripped the handles, hair blowing in the wind. It would have been a perfect image except… the hair was on his back.
Ew…
Wear a shirt! That was my first thought. My second was more of a marvel that this man had no compunction about it. This man really was a prime example of individuality and self-acceptance. He didn’t seem to care what anyone else’s reaction was. He was happy being his big, hairy self.
Then two other choppers pulled up behind him, and I realized that perhaps I was wrong. I don’t know if the other two were as folicularly-endowed as their friend, but they all had that same style. The Harley look. So was this guy expressing the acceptance of his individuality or was his look an effort to conform to group expectations?
I will never know, but my thoughts didn’t stop there. I thought about how many “free spirits” are simply conforming to a non-conformist standard. I can easily come up with two groups of non-conformists and describe them. The first look and act in the style of 1970’s Hippies. Lax, natural grooming, flowing clothing, and a go-with-the-flow attitude and speech pattern. The other group is the Angry Birds. They have an edge to them. They pick hair colors, clothing, type of body piercings, topics of conversation and word choice in order to be in the face of clean-cut society – to shock them with their non-conformity. But the fact that I can describe these two groups makes them conformists, despite all their efforts.
The true non-conformist would make personal decisions without weighting the expectations of a specific group. But humans are social creatures and want to be accepted. The result is that there are very few truly free spirits who refuse the unwritten rules. Perhaps it is good that there aren’t a lot of them. Certainly, our daily activities run more smoothly if we don’t stop to question everything. But their existence also knocks us out of our malaise and that is good, too. Perhaps woolly chopper guy was one them. Even among Harley riders, I expect having back hair long enough to flap around your leather vest is not considered a plus. So maybe his clothing choice really was an expression of his own, unique individuality. If so, I say:
Ride on, Woolly Man. Ride on.
Can You Be Yourself?
Ew…
Wear a shirt! That was my first thought. My second was more of a marvel that this man had no compunction about it. This man really was a prime example of individuality and self-acceptance. He didn’t seem to care what anyone else’s reaction was. He was happy being his big, hairy self.
Then two other choppers pulled up behind him, and I realized that perhaps I was wrong. I don’t know if the other two were as folicularly-endowed as their friend, but they all had that same style. The Harley look. So was this guy expressing the acceptance of his individuality or was his look an effort to conform to group expectations?
I will never know, but my thoughts didn’t stop there. I thought about how many “free spirits” are simply conforming to a non-conformist standard. I can easily come up with two groups of non-conformists and describe them. The first look and act in the style of 1970’s Hippies. Lax, natural grooming, flowing clothing, and a go-with-the-flow attitude and speech pattern. The other group is the Angry Birds. They have an edge to them. They pick hair colors, clothing, type of body piercings, topics of conversation and word choice in order to be in the face of clean-cut society – to shock them with their non-conformity. But the fact that I can describe these two groups makes them conformists, despite all their efforts.
The true non-conformist would make personal decisions without weighting the expectations of a specific group. But humans are social creatures and want to be accepted. The result is that there are very few truly free spirits who refuse the unwritten rules. Perhaps it is good that there aren’t a lot of them. Certainly, our daily activities run more smoothly if we don’t stop to question everything. But their existence also knocks us out of our malaise and that is good, too. Perhaps woolly chopper guy was one them. Even among Harley riders, I expect having back hair long enough to flap around your leather vest is not considered a plus. So maybe his clothing choice really was an expression of his own, unique individuality. If so, I say:
Ride on, Woolly Man. Ride on.