I get very tired of hearing people say "Culture doesn't influence me. I have control over my own life. I am an individual."

While such people do in fact have control and are individuals -- culture matters. Culture shapes our view of the world and puts a boundary around our imagination. That doesn't mean we can't cross the boundary. But it does mean that people who do so must work harder than if the boundary was in a different place.

It makes me crazy when people assume that the individual and society are mutally exclusive, when in fact, they are much like this Escher drawing. Individuals make society. Society makes individuals. Both statements are true.