an act of pushing one self to fit in somewhere to where it becomes obviously unnatural. it feels like people are trying hardest when they start to change themselves. sometimes people seem like they're
trying too hard to fit into a certain crowd (e.g. punk, hip hop, emo, mall shopper,
football jock, high school prep,
pretentious hipster, republican, etc) but they're really not. Most people will criticize based on speculation of noticeable differences such as clothing style and skin color or interest. at first everyone tries too hard, then eventually they just naturally fit in. some people try too hard to act like they're not trying too hard. people who try the hardest are the ones who criticizes others for trying too hard. it states that they're not trying hard by projecting on to others. Others seem like they're trying too hard when they don't fit into the mainstream. but sometimes people try too hard to fit into the mainstream also. this term could be pushed either way or at anybody and could be justified from any perspective. just be yourself, you'll be criticized no matter what. whatever being yourself means.
Example:
try too hard
it's unnatural for that nerd ugly weird kid to try to fit in with the football jocks. He must be trying too hard to feel superior to his high school peers.
that punk kid is trying too hard to look old school. look at all his chains, spikes, and leather. he use to be nerdy and picked on a lot.
look at that republican
knee jerk patriot putting flags all over his car after 9/11. he didn't even care to vote before 9/11. or even know what democratic left or republican right meant a few years back. he's not real. he's a
psuedo-conformist
look at that
hippie girl, she only listens to ''real'' indie acoustic bands, 2 years ago she loved top 40 radio pop. she's trying too hard.
look at that amish kid, he's all pimped out with hd tv, computers, black berry, ipods, and video games. a few years back everything he had was made of wood.
bored american kids are really concerned with what's real or not. they go online to passive aggressively attack other kids for their style, beliefs, actions and ideas because they can't do it in person. low self esteem is the result of it.