Why Does Society Pull To Be Normal?

The point is, we are all different. Yet the differences that we have between us can be used to strengthen society as we know it. Diversity enables us to have the opportunity to learn, develop, and understand different ways of living, and experience our lives to the fullest. Without diversity, we are closed or boarded off in our own worlds. But with it, we expand our knowledge and we are no longer ignorant. When you are aware of the differences and embrace them, then you have taken the blind fold off to living differently and you are a better person for it. The key is exposure and using what you learned to increase more tolerance and decrease things such as racism.

Despite the fact that we like to think we have a free choice in our individuality, normalcy is forced through the constant pressure from society around us. In conforming, we receive advantages such as jobs, money, affection, all of which originate from conforming to the normalities of our society. In conforming, we try to satisfy others but not ourselves in fear of rejection. In our desperate attempts to please others, we often lose a part of ourselves in the process. Being deemed normal in society is a major part of everyone 's lives and the abnormal are usually excluded from the public eye. In this paper I will prove how the forced sense of normalcy is ingrained into our minds even if we believe that we are free.

When kids are younger, they are told that being different is good. And it is, sometimes. A lot of people are different. But, at other times, being different can limit your chances. This is shown in the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. This novel is about a boy named Junior that is different than the rest of his peers. He is the only Indian going to an all white school. Some of his experiences there show that being different isn’t all that good, sometimes. The book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, and the article, “Adding a Disability Perspective When Reading Adolescent Literature” both portray how being different can limit someone’s chances and opportunities.

Children and young people can now learn and understand about different cultures and beliefs through the media and within their own school and by talking openly and positively about race, religion, ethnicity and cultural comparisons and differences will only benefit children in their understanding and development of a healthy social attitude.

Many individuals is faced with the decision of conforming or choosing personal desire, and it is not an easy decision. It is hard because being shunned by others for being different is not a good feeling. Choosing to conform over personal desire, often leads to loss. On the other hand, personal desire is what sets others apart and gives them joy. In the poem, “The Jackhammer Syndrome”, Al Purdy discusses the good and bad memories he has experienced. He goes through his memories of when he had fun and made mistakes, but he reflects on what he could have done better. The author of “The Jackhammer Syndrome informs against choosing the welcoming joy of conformity over the long-term gains of personal desire. Making the decision to pursue conformity over personal desire may seem easy at first, but if the choice is to conform, the joy it gives will not last. Making the decision to pursue conformity over personal desire Conformity may seem to give joy at first, but it does not last. When Al is playing pool with his brother, he wants to win badly, but losses. However when he did not care to win, Al wins! Conforming can lead to loss but personal desire has much to gain. If the choice is to conform, personal identity may be lost. In my life, I recognize several instances in which I found several similarities between Al and myself. I have made decisions that were not always good ones such as swimming across long distances with friends.

A norm is a behavior or unspoken rule that society has deemed as normal or acceptable. Those who do not follow the norms of a group may be shunned or looked at as different. The norm I will be violating for my project is asking people that I am unfamiliar with to do something simple for me. It is not common for a stranger to ask another stranger to do something that they are seemingly able to do. This norm acts as a mechanism of social control by keeping people from talking to those who are unfamiliar. It also puts forward the idea that we should be able to do all simple tasks ourselves. To break this norm, I am going to wear tennis shoes with one of the laces untied and ask strangers passing by to tie my shoe for me.

The author, Leslie Fiedler writes about the differences in what it means to be normal. She discusses this in a professional manner that opens eyes to what we have disguised and even been ashamed of. “The Tyranny of the Normal,” we learn much about what we perceive as abnormal and what society seems to portray normal as. We discover what we believe is normal and also what has changed through-out the history of this subject. Our minds are opened and exposed to the world of abnormalities and how we see them.

The author went on to state that once we act on our personal and professional connection to different cultures in our lives then members of the racial continuum of color populations of Brown, Asian, Native American and multiracial will be able to gain presence, position and power in our schools. To sum it- we

Now, to do as our devilish orator insists, to “re-establish our feelings of essential normality”(King, “Why We Crave”, 1) by moving away from the topic of the Human Condition of mental instability, and instead dive into the murky depths of societal pressures and what ‘normal’ is. Throughout human history, society has imposed certain limits on our behaviour, due to our intrinsic desire to conform. This, as our augur of the macabre explains, can cause us to be reassured when something abnormal appears, reaffirming our belief in being one of the herd, to not stand out. Thus, this provides a concise explanation

“Schools should be models for the expression of human rights and respect for differences.” (Gollnick, 2013). Seeing how I never attended any pre-kindergarten programs, I was not as exposed to diversity at this age. Not even the elementary school I went to was very diversely populated. So, for me, middle school was somewhat of a cultural shock in terms of the things I saw and heard from the other students. In this way, I think these children are benefiting from their early educational experience. Exposing children to a variety of cultures and lifestyles is the best way to foster open mindedness and resiliency in kids (Global Children’s Fund). Moving forward, I will promote these behaviors in my own

“Parents and schools should place great emphasis on the idea that it is alright to be different. Racism and all the other ‘isms’ grow from primitive tribalism, the instinctive hostility against those of another tribe, race, religion, nationality, class or whatever. You are a lucky child if your parents taught you to accept diversity” Roger Ebert (brainyquote.com). As a student who was originally from another culture background, going to school here in the U.S was the biggest change for me. Where I came from there is only one type of ethnic group in my school, everyone around me seem to be just like me. We dressed the same, we shared the same culture and language. It’s seem like going to a school where everyone surrounding is are the same would be great but honestly it did not. Many of my friends would often judged people who are minority who went to my school, and said a lot of racist comments to those people. When I got to go school here to America everything changed, everyone around me are difference. We dressed differently, we speak differently and of course we all looked different from each other. The level of diversity at the school I went to was really high, there are many of students with different races, ethics background and religions. To be honest I thought that I will get bully by all my classmates but it did not happen. Yes there is sometime where people will make fun about the way I talk but I did not take it personally. They are were young so it was natural

Hues are properties of light by which colors of objects are classified in reference to the spectrum. As people, we decide what hue is intriguing, how it makes us feel, and unfortunately how it makes us different. We are calmed by the blueness of water, and we are awakened by the yellowness of the sun. It was not until the evil intentions of slavery crossed mankind’s thoughts that hue became our downfall, our separator. White supremacy eroded the idea of equality, and darker hues began to symbolize worthlessness, inferiority, and ugliness.

There are no colors in the society. “Jonas learned, through the memories, the names of colors; and now he began to see them all, in his ordinary life.”(Lowry 92)This quote explains my topic, because this tells you that the community has no color. “It isn't fair that nothing has color.”(Lowry 92)This quote explains my topic , because he is saying that there is no color

What if a whole community had the absence of color, expect for one twelve-year-old child? According to the novel The Giver written by Lois Lowry, Jonas, the twelve-year-old child, lives in a seemingly ideal, but colorless, community of conformity and contentment. Not until he is assigned, and given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory, as he starts to understand the dark, and complicated secrets behind his community. He begins to recognize various ways in which his community needs color to be more free and happy. Within, the novel Lois Lowry, mentioned a lot of themes that were contributed to Jonas’ ability to see color, and the absence of color in his community. One of the themes that was expressed within the novel was, the

Soon, they do the same or try to be the same. They also think that the coarse children or the other race is terrible. "My Parents Kept Me from Children Who Were Rough," "Those Who Don't" and "We Real Cool" are the same because they are safe with all the same kind of people around. "My Parents Kept Me from Children Who Were Rough," "Those Who Don't" and "We Real Cool" because they are told in different perspectives. All these pieces show differences and similarities of point of view. The pieces also comparisons and contrasts so many other ideas.