What does equality mean in "Harrison Bergeron"?And what exactly is the author satirizing?

In "Harrison Bergeron," Vonnegut is satirizing our
collective notion that all people must be equal.  In the story, the fictional society
that Vonnegut creates is made to be equal in all ways:  the smarter people are given
mental handicaps to prevent them from thinking, the graceful dancers are given weighted
bags to prevent them from being so graceful, and beautiful people are given physical
props to mask their true appearance.  In the story, the members of society get
nowhere--they cannot even function on a level that makes anyone productive.  The satire
presents the people as absurd and ridiculous to voice the message that our attempts to
always make people equal are similarly absurd and ridiculous.  In the advent of civil
rights and other rights such as equality in the workplace, our society has gone to an
extreme by suggesting that people should be equal in all areas, not simply that we
should be treated with equal respect.  Vonnegut uses the story to suggest that our human
differences are the avenue to our advances.  For example, what would the Olympics be
without superior athletes to engage in competition?  So, "Harrison Bergeron" challenges
the notion of blanket human equality.