Conformity In Society

We would think that in such a modern and developed world, people would be encouraged to express their individuality and independent way of thinking, but is it really so? A few factors have lead me to believe otherwise; that our society, although not directly, forces conformity upon us, without us even realizing it.
One example of that is the media. Everywhere we turn, we see images and messages that encourage us to act all act different, but they give us "tips" on what "different" and "individual" should look like. If it's not on a billboard while walking across the street, it's an article in this month's Seventeen magazine. As a teenage girl, reading magazines like that all the time, I can say from my own experience that although individuality seems to be highly encouraged in their articles, conformity is forced. Magazines, television and other factors of pop culture use reverse psychology on people. It tells them to think for themselves and while they're preaching
individuality, they do it in such a way that all the kids walk into a mall and end up leaving wearing the same clothes with an Abercrombie and Fitch tag on it, listening to the same kind of music because only one kind is playing on the radio and acting all exactly the same, because they've seen it on TV, or read about in a magazine or on the internet.
Another way conformity is forced by our society is through religion. We are told by our preachers what is the right and what is the wrong way to act, how to act in certain situations, and what to say. Believing that someone other then you can tell what is right for you, encourages conformity and a lack of responsibility for your own actions. If a religion preaches being your own person, by actions and by words, prohibits women to wear pants, and only allows them to wear skirts, how independent and individual are they? For instance, if someone was to speak up against this, which shows someone thinking "outside the box" and wear pants, instead of a required skirt, some religions would not only make the person believe they would end up in hell, or make them be very sorry for this "sin" that they committed, they would take disciplinary actions. The religion is preaching being your own, independent, good person, and yet tells us what the ideal "good person" is and how we should act to make ourselves closer to that image, and frightens us if someone tries to go against or question what is being taught. People are discouraged to think independently when it comes to religion, because they have been frightened by the idea of sin and hell, which has been planted in their brains from the time they were little children. They have come to believe it, so did their children, and their children after that. It's a cycle that doesn't seem to have an end.
Similar to religion is school's way of enforcing conformity us on.
Everyday in school we hear phrases like, "you can do whatever your heart desires in life" or "you can become whoever you dream to be", and in the background we hear the subliminal message of "but do it this way". This is not very uncommon. Every student hears that at least once a day in their classroom. Every morning, students are expected to all stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance and if a student refuses, some schools will take disciplinary action. More and more schools are enforcing uniforms in their schools. Students are not only now forced to act the same and think the same, but dress the same. Just like in religion, they explain to students the image of the "ideal person" and the way they should act, speak, and think. Children and adolescents struggle to find their self-identity to begin with, so planting the ideas of what you should be and how you should be it is easily absorbed by young people, and they know
it. Conformity is a powerful, but invisible force. It's hitting us indirectly and slowly but eventually will cause death to individuality and an independent way of thinking. Death to individuality may be worse than the death of an individual, and looking at our world; it is happening already.