The Individual in the Collective

We associate strongly with the roles we play in society, the occupations we engage in, and the gender we identify with. Our external appearance notwithstanding, we define ourselves by certain personality traits exhibited repeatedly during life experiences, our family background, social conditioning and ancestral histories.  Our interactions and how we relate to the people around us influence how we behave, our actions, motivations, and who we eventually become as a person.

In the collective amalgamation of these multiple roles, it is interesting to inquire the purpose and role of the individual, and how being part of a larger consciousness shapes our individuality. 

For example, let us consider the continuous process of growth-emotional, psychological and physical. As we age, and cross into the subsequent stages of childhood, adulthood, and old age respectively, we feel a need to conform to the stereotypes associated with each phase. 

Incongruous development of the faculties of nature result in an unnatural status quo, which seeks to balance out the internal states of individual needs and the external requirements of society. 

A man needs to fulfill his duties as son, father, and husband, just as a woman needs to fulfill her own respectively. The transition from each phase to the other, requires the individual to consider the needs of others, before himself. The status that one holds in society is proportionate to the respect garnered due to success, and in order to have a relatable position of authority, the individual needs to deny his self-actualisation needs, placing his physical and social needs first, in direct reference to surviving within the collective.

      Write down the various roles you carry out, and also, the ones you want to. Mother. Father. Friend. Filmmaker. Banker. Singer. Man. Woman. Now, put an adjective before every word. Feminine Man. Dominant Woman. Patient Father. Stressed Mother. Bad Artist. Bored Banker. Do the same for the three most important things in your life. It can be a person, profession or thing. 

        What is the place of the individual in the collective and vice versa? Which state is the current situation of our societal conditioning more attuned to, and what can be done to find a merger that satisfies and bridges this duality? 

With the dynamic and influential nature of changing trends in popular culture, how can the individual resist and maintain its integrity of being? The issues of nonconformity threaten the public sphere, and with it, a commonly accepted hierarchy that politicises not only economic systems of authority, but also human nature. 

In the rise and fall of power, the need for domination has been prevalent as a basic tenet for furthering one's owns means, ultimately reinforcing a Darwinian notion of survival. 

This notion can be applied in a paradoxical manner to the battles between own's one individuality and the collective, in the suppression and submission of one over the other. Is it possible for each to recognize their inherent differences and co-exit peacefully in a symbiotic rather than a parasitic manner?

Let us consider contemporary gender stereotypes of masculinity and feminity. With the civilisation and urbanisation of modern society, women no longer require men to pursue conventional gender roles of protection and provision. With liberated attitudes towards physical intimacy, men no longer require the challenge to pursue women for what they desire. However, though the economic and social movements have rendered gender stereotypes inadequate, our biological needs still remain. 

Isolation and the lack of emotional intimacy has shown itself to be one of the main drawbacks of an increasingly modern society that is no longer dependent on each other. Feminity has been traded in for undesirable masculine traits, and masculinity has been traded in for the feminine, as men  and women can no longer suppress their inherent polarities due to social conditioning.  

        While biologically it can be argued that men have a masculine core, and women have a feminine core, the complete suppression of the complementary energy creates issues of uneven development. 

While the feminist movement has reminded male energy about the inherent power of the feminine and the respect she deserves, too much of it begins to tip the scales in the domination of masculine energy. It is scientifically proven that for attraction there needs to be polarity to satisfy our biological needs, and hence the subsequent rise of same sex relations in contemporary society. This seems to be manifested as a need for the society to balance itself, overthrowing gender stereotypes in the internalisation of energy. The manifestation of various socio-economic and political movements, even biological evolution, suggests that there is a constant dialogue between the individual and the collective, with each responding and influencing the other.

As Lao Tzu quotes, 'When a movement becomes extreme, it turns into its opposite.' So also a possible futuristic prediction would be the dying down of same-sex relationships, and the realignment of heterosexual relationships, in a society that equally respects both the masculine and feminine, such that neither is suppressed while the other is inculcated. 

Both the externalization and internalisation of androgynous gender identification will restore the original balance between the masculine and feminine, while respecting the biological inner core of the differences between men and women.

When considering these multiple polarities, it is fascinating to reference a similar dichotomy that exists between the body and the mind, and draw parallels with the ultimate purpose of resistance. It is important to consider and recognize that the individual and collective may be two opposing forces, or even complementary, but they are also essentially the same, in the commonality of the goal towards the ultimate betterment and survival of our society.