The Mainstream Myth

Yoshino discusses the “mainstream” throughout his article. By “mainstream” he means the way people in America conform and behave as they believe the majority of Americans expect them to behave. They want to be assimilated into this dominantly white, Anglo-Saxon and Protestant society. People want to fit the norm so they cover up any of their characteristics, which others might see as “obtrusive”. One can’t be too openly different because courts will not protect “mutable traits” or those which a person can change so the person can “fade into the mainstream”. Underlying this mainstream idea is that assimilation is a precondition of civilization. If people fit a mold, such as what comes from the traditional American “melting pot” idea, then there will be less discrimination because everyone is more similar.

However, Yoshino believes this “mainstream is a myth”. Everyone, not just traditional civil rights groups such as “racial minorities, women, gays, religious minorities, and people with disabilities” (605), tend to cover. Most everyone, in some sense, is “struggling for self-definition” (605). It is no longer just confined to civil rights groups. Generally, everyone wants to conform to what society views as normal, but as Yoshino says “it is not normal to be completely normal.” There is not longer a mainstream as human beings have many identities. We must all be allowed to be free “to develop our human capacities without the impediment of witless conformity” (606). The emphasis is no longer on equality but now it is on having the freedom to be who one is.

I believe Yoshino does a good job at persuading the reader to see the importance of being free to be yourself and not feeling you have to cover up. He gives good examples of conformity. He also shows how the courts ruled against people because they were not part of the mainstream (wearing cornrows, speaking Spanish, being a new mom, and marrying the same sex). Yoshino then appeals to all of our individuality by telling us no one is normal and that it is important to have the freedom to be ourselves. His essay was thought provoking.