What is normal anyway?

 

What is considered “normal” within any given society?  Within Audre Lorde’s essay Age, Race, Class, and Sex, she explains how one view of the world is through eyes of what should happen and what someone should look like. By doing this they create this assumption of normality as the ideal and everything else as different making difference put into the spot light and either hierarchical or subservient. These differences act as categories to who you are or whom someone perceives you to be. This is a problem because as Lorde states, as one continues to split themselves into these categories, one becomes a group of pieces disjoined and without a centralized sense of self.  Another problem is since one is placed into these different categories like race, once in them, the other differences one may have are not viewed by an outside viewer. Audre states that this is a problem because although many may accept differences and diversity; outsiders still look at these people as different rather than part of the society with differences. Thus, the view of difference acts as a barrier in truly becoming a common equality society. I find it interesting that people and institutions really pride themselves on having diversity yet, instead of relating them as just another friend, student, or employee they spotlight them like in college pamphlets. There is no communal we, but a group of us with equally interesting and valuable qualities which make us individuals and not just people.  Thus, the challenge is to find equality within difference not a universal same for equality. Yet Lorde is not saying that we shouldn’t see difference. She is stating that we should not put more importance on certain “differences” like race and less on “differences” like sexuality. I believe that we should accept difference and acknowledge it but create bonds based on views and not common physical similarities.