Different

What does it mean when something or someone is different? By definition the word different means not of the same kind, not the same, or not ordinary or common. But what does it mean to call something different? We can say an apple is different from a orange, but they are both fruits. To compare an apple to a slice of bread, but they are both still food... then lets say we compare an apple to a car, but they both have mass and take up space, they are both comprised of matter. By definition then can any of these things be described as different? We throw around the word different like any other adjective, if something isn't what we believe to be normal or the same as us we call it different. A woman is different from a man, one skin color is different from another, a gay individual is different from a straight individual. But are they different? Sure they have differences, but no matter the differences we are all human beings... all the same. I feel like most of the arguments I hear today are about those three things: sex, race, and sexual orientation. After hundreds of years of fighting and revolutions we are still arguing over the same things. Don't get me wrong we've won some battles, but the war still rages on. No matter how hard we try that label "different" gets slapped on someones forehead and that's all anyone can see. Lets really think about this for a moment: what separates an apple from an orange? The color, shape, texture, flavor, etc... but when we think of them we see fruit, right? All those differences, but with the exception of your personal preferences we don't really think one is better than the other right? Both are sweet, have nutrients, are appetizing, are healthy for you... and so on. Now lets think about the differences between a woman and a man. Sexual organs, hormones, physical structure... can you think of anything else? Those few things don't even compare to the differences in an apple and an orange and yet we see woman as being so much different from men. Throughout history man ruled, man made the money, man was head of the household... is there something that makes man greater than woman? How about this lets look at this scientifically: men tend to be stronger than woman, but woman tend to be smarter than men... like the apples and the oranges we have our differences but that doesn't make one better than the other. I was brought up seeing every human being as holding the same amount of weight in the world, not to look at everyone as being different and those differences holding more weight than another. I think if everyone saw the world that way as everyone being human, the world would be a different place. Look at it this way: when you fill a bowl with apples and oranges and bananas and so forth, what do see? A bowl of fruit, right? So when you look at the world do you see all the differences, or do you see the human race?