I am recognizing this theory not only prominent in this text, but in the world around us. People feel the need to conform to what people expect them to. For example, in this text bell hooks talks about how she really only had three options as to what job she could do, marry, be a maid, or be a teacher. She chose teacher because it seemed closest to what she really wanted to do, write.
This theme, of bell hooks conforming to what everyone had always expected of her, is prominent in our world today. People tend to conform to whatever outside pressures seem to “expect” them to do. That pressure does not only have to come from family or friends; it can come from media too. It also does not only have to be about choices you make with your life such as going to college, doing a certain job, or looking a certain way. It can be about what you believe, how you act or what you believe. It is something that I think will always be prominent in our world. Everyone says to be yourself, but, when we are feeling pressure from the outside can we really ever be free?
I think you are not far off on your idea that humans have a desire to conform. While we could identify as anything we really wanted, we choose to limit ourselves so we can be categorized and show how unique we are. The irony of this desire is that it also forces us to be completely unoriginal in some facets, and even horribly limiting. When you grow in a society that is constantly influencing “the normal”, it can warp the perception of of different ideas or altogether breed a certain toxic ignorance. The worst of it all is that the “normal” becomes assumed, and the assumed gets treated as fact. Thus, new ideas get treated as lunacy. The best mind is always an open one.