July: 3-20-08

When applying hegemony to discourse it relates to whom and why individuals determine what is distributed in the mainstream. The term hegemony has been used throughout all of my classes at Rollins, but at some points it has a universal meaning. When dealing with hegemony in Dr. Rog’s class it basically deals with ones culture’s belief or belonging in society. For example, American is the dominant group in America, leaving minority groups behind, which causes a separation in ideologies and mythologies. “The American Dream” was created and enforced by Americans, but it isn’t structured to fit everyone’s life, minorities are always judged according to this ideology because they are constantly left out. The “American Dream” is mainly for the Americans that are already established in society because they haven’t experienced the depression of downward mobility. The head-start will give them motivation to seek higher levels of employment, but it isn’t likely for all Americans, especially minorities. Many minorities are already in a hard spot financial and academically because they have other obstacles that hold them from an equal chance at higher employment levels. Equal chances aren’t given to every born citizen in the United Sates so applying ideologies like the “American Dream” as the structured way to success isn’t fair for the underprivileged marginalized groups.