“On Wednesdays, we wear pink”. Sounds familiar? Of course it does — it's one of the most iconic lines from the 2004 movie Mean Girls. Directed by Mark Waters, this film details Cady Heron’s junior year, the first time she goes to a real school (North Shore High School) after living in Africa for 12 years. At her new school, Cady meets “the Plastics” – the 3 most popular girls in the school, led by Regina George – and forms a friendship with them. Wearing pink on Wednesdays is only one of the Plastics’ strict rules Cady has to follow in order to join their group. The more time she spends with them, Cady begins to change: her appearance, her personality and her actions all evolve into something different as she attempts to fit in with these girls. This, my friends, is the idea of conformity. 

Conformity, according to the American Psychological Association, is the adjustment of one’s opinions, judgements or actions so that they become more consistent with those of other people or the norms of a social group or situation. Many people turn to conformity, as it promises a friend group and people to lean on throughout the twists and turns in their journey. As tempting as this may be, conformity can actually strip someone of their true identity. Let’s look at Cady for a bit. Cady enjoys math and even considers joining the mathletes at school. However, she chose not to after the Plastics described it as “social suicide”. In order to grow closer to the Plastics, Cady turns down something she truly loves. Her identity as someone who enjoys math slowly fades away as she becomes one of the Plastics. Is quickly letting go of something one really loved for so long worth it? Especially if it's for someone or something they only recently acquainted themselves with? Math may not entirely be Cady’s identity, but it represents a big part of who she is. Just for 3 girls she recently met, she steps away from it. This is what conformity does — it turns someone into a person they couldn’t recognize. Is it really justified to become a different person only to be socially accepted by one group? 

Identity isn’t the only thing conformity affects: one’s decision making skills can also be impacted. Conformity can often lead to peer pressure, creating a need to fit in with other people in the group and comply by their standards. This peer pressure could potentially lead to engagement in irregular behavior, which definitely is not a benefit for anyone. Let’s visit Cady again. Cady develops feelings for Aaron Samuels, a guy in her calculus class. Just for a chance to talk to him, Cady begins to purposely fail the class. In this situation, Cady made the poor decision on her own — no peer pressure involved. However, she conformed to the Plastics so much that she began to act like them, though that’s not who she really is. Of course, Aaron wasn’t too pleased when he found out, even telling Cady that she was like a clone of Regina. Cady’s bad decision of lying to Aaron shot her in the foot. Was all of that really necessary? Cady’s unwise choice eventually portrayed her as wasted and stupid. She conformed for friends, but ended up with none. 

Of course, Cady and other North Shore students aren’t the only high schoolers who face social conformity. Every high schooler experiences it at some point in their journey. There are a variety of different ways students conform in their school environment, a prominent example being social media. Social media propels conformity through intense social comparison, forming a need to be accepted by others. In fact, the PEW Research Center mentioned that about 43% of teenagers post content on social media that makes them look good to other people. By seeing some people make certain posts, other students hope to do something similar to capture their attention. After all, people come together because of their similarities. But in most cases of conformity, these said similarities are actually fake. Where’s the personality in this? There isn’t any. Nothing is genuine when it's being faked. 

Even after 22 years, Mean Girls continues to make a profound impact on the social dynamics of teenagers. Its portrayal of social conformity as a toxic, destructive force sparked great awareness in high school students across the country. All the characters, remarkable in their own ways, illustrate the diverse student body of the school and how together, everyone’s differences form beautiful experiences. And most importantly, the movie sends a simple message which everyone should always keep in mind: be yourself. 

This article was edited by Amaan Musani