Comments on: Making the Normal Abnormal

By: opposablethumbs

opposablethumbs — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 14:59:34 +0000

Great post. There are far too many things that are “just common sense” (gender essentialism, many aspects of capitalism, all kinds of health-related shaming … it’s pretty much an endless list) when a little thought makes it clear that they are anything but.

“There’s nothing wrong with recognizing that something is typical, prevalent, or common, providing it’s not automatically seen as the only legitimate way to do things or to be.”

Beautifully put. I’ll go with that one too.

By: benstansfield

benstansfield — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 12:40:47 +0000

“There’s nothing wrong with recognizing that something is typical, prevalent, or common, providing it’s not automatically seen as the only legitimate way to do things or to be.”

super awesome, succinct, will be memorizing this for possible future rebuttals 🙂

By: John Phillips, FCD

John Phillips, FCD — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 11:36:19 +0000

If humans had just thrown up their hands and said ‘that’s just the way it is’, we would still be hunter gatherers. How the hell do they think we got this far at all, imperfect as it is, except by people rejecting ‘that’s just the way it is’ and constantly redefining what is accepted as normal and abnormal.

By: smrnda

smrnda — Sun, 01 Sep 2013 21:34:35 +0000

Something about ‘normal’ is that sometimes what gets called ‘normal’ isn’t even globally normal (if such a thing existed.) Plenty of things assumed ‘normal’ in the States are anomalies (like employer sponsored health insurance) that don’t require much research to realize aren’t universal.

Great post – things are only ever seen as ‘normal’ because there’s some incentive in normalizing it.

On ‘how things are,’ they’ve changed so much that any ‘that’s how things are’ is a total cop-out.

By: Miri, Professional Fun-Ruiner

Miri, Professional Fun-Ruiner — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 13:45:03 +0000

In reply to Lothar Lorraine.

would you agree with me that if we ought to combat every injustice and abuse regardless of the victim and the offender?

Well, when a statement is as general as that, I’d have to agree, just as I’d have to agree with statements like “you should be kind to your friends” and “not having money feels bad.”

However, I’m not going to respond to this beyond that because I consider it quite rude to go on someone’s blog post and promote your own writing about an entirely different subject, and expect the author of that blog to take the time to read and respond to it even though it’s completely off-topic.

I do a thing semi-regularly here called “Occasional Link Roundup,” in which I post links to great stuff I’ve read recently and invite others to share their own writing in the comments. In the future, please reserve your self-promotion for those posts.

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 09:13:19 +0000

I couldn’t agree more! I think claiming there are “normal” ways to do things are just as ridiculous as claiming there are “normal” people. I had a lovely teacher once who used to say that “normal” things and people belong in a museum, not in the real world. There’s nothing wrong with recognizing that something is typical, prevalent, or common, providing it’s not automatically seen as the only legitimate way to do things or to be.

By: Beatrice, an amateur cynic looking for a happy thought

Beatrice, an amateur cynic looking for a happy thought — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 09:10:56 +0000

You’re making a great point here. Unfortunately, pointing out that some “normal” and “natural” things really aren’t, often leads to people just accusing one of political correctness or oversensitivity.

Also, seconding Dalillama. I hate hearing that it’s just the way it is. So what, I shouldn’t even say that it’s wrong? Or worse, it’s worth mocking that maybe I wasn’t aware of this being just the way it is, and now being surprised at the unfairness? The paternalistic tone implying that poor wittle girlie is just learning about how life works really improves the experience in these situations.

By: Dalillama, Schmott Guy

Dalillama, Schmott Guy — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 23:30:09 +0000

I regularly find myself dealing with people who shrug off some ludicrous (usually economic, for me) thing that’s happening as ‘just the way it is,” whereupon, depending on the circumstance, I have no recourse but to either walk away, or shout very loudly “That’s not a law of goddamned nature, it’s just a social convention, and it can be changed, just by doing things differently.”

By: Lothar Lorraine

Lothar Lorraine — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 23:04:32 +0000

Hello Miri,

would you agree with me that if we ought to combat every injustice and abuse regardless of the victim and the offender?

In France, political correctness makes it impossible to talk about certain kind of racism and xenophobia:
http://lotharlorraine.wordpress.com/2013/07/30/a-new-anti-racism/

I hope you won’t censure my message and am looking forward to learning your reaction.

Kind regards from Europe.

Lothars Sohn – Lothar’s son
http://lotharlorraine.wordpress.com

By: Great American Satan

Great American Satan — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 22:47:13 +0000

A relatively short and powerful post, like a punch in the face. Bip.

I wonder if Elyse’s newest post at Skepchick is going to win any hearts and minds from the Slyme? It goes the opposite way to achieving impact – oppressively brutal and lengthy.

With all the brilliant writing being done on these subjects lately, these jerks have to pop out their eyeballs to keep up their comfortable ignorance. Seriously, I want to see even one high level defection from those dudes.

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