While teaching my students about Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance" an idea came to me. Emerson stated that society doesn't care for "realities and creators" but prefers "names and customs." "Whoso would be a man must be a non-conformist," he wrote. I asked my students if they thought Lady Gaga was a non-conformist. They roundly said yes. Playing devil's advocate, I pointed out that in a way, as unique as she seems, she's really only playing within the rules of the game - participating in the very machinations of the music . . .
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