Response to "Restricted Feerdom"

I read the essay, "Resticted Feerdom". I actually thoroughly enjoyed the piece and found the author's take on freedom very interesting. The point emphasized in the essay was that the cultural freedoms we Americans love so much may not be as freeing as they seem. The fact that people's opinions are skewed on looks and first impressions in our culture is actually very demeaning. When people see someone adorning black makeup and tattoos they have a much different reaction than when they confront a man in a brand new suit. This kind of prejudging actually hinders our social freedom - humanity's judgmental nature lends us to steer clear from people whom we would normally accept if we did not have a predetermined notion of what said people were like. For instance, the freedoms granted if our culture told us to all dress similarly would be ones of acceptance of all kinds of people. Goths and Metal-heads would be friends with "preppy" kids; all judgement would be shifted to actual personage and real personality as opposed to the external observation of today's western society. The facets of "freedom" as the normal Westernized corporatized citizen sees it are actually more restricting than freeing.