We live in a world of standardization. Our culture of normalcy, as said by Michael Warner, has made people believe that, “being normal outranks all other social aspirations.” This is a detrimental issue because the “normalization” of the individual leads to a society with a lack of diversity. This lack of diversity negatively affects all social institutions, especially schools.
One of the major issues with our culture of normalcy is the way it views those with physical or mental disability. In fact, even the word “disability” is problematic. It classifies people as either better or worse than others, as able bodies or not. I enjoyed the way Neil Marcus explained disability, “Disability is an art. It’s an ingenious way to live.” I found this to be a profound and interesting way to think of disability. Since the beginning of time social institutions have been trying to “fix” the disabled, instead of letting them be themselves and accepting the fact that diversity is a positive thing. Instead of trying to fix every individual that doesn’t fit within the norm we must fix our society to accept them and view social normalcy for what it truly is, predictable and boring.
It is shocking to note the increasing amount of false diagnoses of mental illness, especially among ethnic and lower income groups. The most frustrating aspect of this is that it labels a child as “disabled” and for the rest of their life they carry that label and pts stress on them to overcome it. The only positive aspect of this increase in mental illness diagnoses affects wealthy drug companies. These drug companies make an innumerable amount of profit from falsely labeled children. These children live their lives with the notion that they need “fixing” and the only way to be “fixed” is if they take a cocktail of potentially incorrectly prescribed drugs. These drugs are said to “fix” and “normalize” children, but instead cast them aside as social outliers and hinders our society’s diversity.
The standardization of people rules our culture of normalcy and hinders all individuals, especially those of lower income. There are ways to combat this notion that being normal is something to aspire to, but really what it comes down to is a drastic social change. As Drew Serres put it in his article “Think Everything’s ‘Normal’?” our society needs to build confidence among minority groups and those who are different or disabled, instead of oppress it. We will not get anywhere by trying to shape individual’s into something they’re not, however we must construct a society where the individual can shape their own life.
Questions:
Is it likely for our society to ever see disability as something that doesn’t need “fixing”?
What makes being “normal” so important?
Why is there so much pressure on disabled people to be “normal”?
Does our society benefit from a lack of diversity? Why do social institutions dislike diversity?
Series, D. Think Everything’s “Normal?” Then It’s Time To Reconsider And Promote A New Narrative Of Disability. Retrieved from http://organizingchange.org/think-everythings-normal-then-its-time-to-reconsider-and-promote-a-new-narrative-of-disability/
One of the major issues with our culture of normalcy is the way it views those with physical or mental disability. In fact, even the word “disability” is problematic. It classifies people as either better or worse than others, as able bodies or not. I enjoyed the way Neil Marcus explained disability, “Disability is an art. It’s an ingenious way to live.” I found this to be a profound and interesting way to think of disability. Since the beginning of time social institutions have been trying to “fix” the disabled, instead of letting them be themselves and accepting the fact that diversity is a positive thing. Instead of trying to fix every individual that doesn’t fit within the norm we must fix our society to accept them and view social normalcy for what it truly is, predictable and boring.
It is shocking to note the increasing amount of false diagnoses of mental illness, especially among ethnic and lower income groups. The most frustrating aspect of this is that it labels a child as “disabled” and for the rest of their life they carry that label and pts stress on them to overcome it. The only positive aspect of this increase in mental illness diagnoses affects wealthy drug companies. These drug companies make an innumerable amount of profit from falsely labeled children. These children live their lives with the notion that they need “fixing” and the only way to be “fixed” is if they take a cocktail of potentially incorrectly prescribed drugs. These drugs are said to “fix” and “normalize” children, but instead cast them aside as social outliers and hinders our society’s diversity.
The standardization of people rules our culture of normalcy and hinders all individuals, especially those of lower income. There are ways to combat this notion that being normal is something to aspire to, but really what it comes down to is a drastic social change. As Drew Serres put it in his article “Think Everything’s ‘Normal’?” our society needs to build confidence among minority groups and those who are different or disabled, instead of oppress it. We will not get anywhere by trying to shape individual’s into something they’re not, however we must construct a society where the individual can shape their own life.
Questions:
Is it likely for our society to ever see disability as something that doesn’t need “fixing”?
What makes being “normal” so important?
Why is there so much pressure on disabled people to be “normal”?
Does our society benefit from a lack of diversity? Why do social institutions dislike diversity?
Series, D. Think Everything’s “Normal?” Then It’s Time To Reconsider And Promote A New Narrative Of Disability. Retrieved from http://organizingchange.org/think-everythings-normal-then-its-time-to-reconsider-and-promote-a-new-narrative-of-disability/