Individually hegemonic choices...

Cult of the individual. We are all affected by it. Men. Women. Students. Parents. Chinese. Caucasions. Doctors. Teachers. Everyone.

What is it, you ask? It's grades. It's walls. It's trophies. It's pay rises. It's everything that privileges the individual and applauds sole success. Think of the Nobel Prize. Think of the kid who made it to Harvard. Think of your neighbour's son who received a scholarship. That's the cult of the invidual. The idea ingrained in us, that by being better than the rest, we are unique. Unique because we have choices in life. That we can choose what influences our lives. What defines our beings. We can choose what we wear. What we listen to. What we do. What we say. What we see.

How true is this? For those of us who browse through the newspaper occassionally, it is highly possible to have stumbled upon The Wedding . Afterall, it's in every newspaper, every headline- "Camilla Parker-Bowles weds Prince Charles", "Camilla, the new Duchess of Cornwall", "Charles and Camilla wed on Saturday". We can't escape it. Hegemony. We're being made to believe that the interest of the ruling class is in the interest of everyone! Seriously, I don't care if Charles married Camilla, I don't need to know that she's the new Duchess of Cornwall, I don't even want to know whether the Queen gave her approval! But does it matter? No. The interest of the ruling class is always in the interest of everyone.

Conciously or otherwise, we internalise hegemonic ideologies everyday- on race, gender, fashion, culture, values, etc. Just a couple of days ago (more like a second ago!), I caught myself regurgitating all that I had absorbed. I judged a girl based on her fashion sense. I immediately came to the conclusion that she had to be a good-for-nothing, lowdown, cheap slut for having worn a revealing top and a barely there skirt. Afterall, isn't the current fashion trend based on the 'multi-layered' look? Come to think of it, there was another girl who was wearing this totally hideous....oops,there I go again. Hegemony at play.

But try as I may, it's not a simple task. It's difficult trying to overcome ideologies which are now part of me. What makes me unique. What makes me, me. Or so I think.

Cult of the individual? Hegemony? Freedom of choice?

Confusing isn't it?