this morning as i wandered in the general direction of my next class, i began to wonder why i never see people celebrate the differences they have with others. i think it is because we have a faulty idea of what equality should be. we equate equality with conformity in a vaguely Harrison Bergeron kinda way. Hegemony emphasizes equality while actively working against it, and pop culture assists in the shrouding of this act by encouraging conformity. the American ideology of individuality becomes one in which each person is separated from each other person despite the fact that we all dress, talk, and act alike. Obscured in all of this are the sometimes minute, sometimes magnified idiosyncrasies of the individual. True equality based on mutual respect would occur if, instead of being automatons we appreciated each other for the unique abilities that we all contribute in excellence of our own limitations. (i get along with billy BECAUSE he can play a mean game of basketball, and i get along with sally BECAUSE she can figure out a differential equation in no time flat, and they get along with me BECAUSE i’m a gangly mother).