{"id":140091213,"date":"2023-12-26T15:50:47","date_gmt":"2023-12-26T15:50:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/lets-reimagine-normal\/"},"modified":"2023-12-26T15:50:47","modified_gmt":"2023-12-26T15:50:47","slug":"lets-reimagine-normal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/de\/lets-reimagine-normal\/","title":{"rendered":"Let's Reimagine Normal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why challenging the status quo matters<\/h2>

A new reality<\/h2>

Recently, I watched Netflix\u2019s relationship reality show The Ultimatum: Queer Love<\/em>.<\/p>

If you haven\u2019t seen it, the show features five lesbian couples that split up and reshuffle. One partner in each wants to get married, the other isn\u2019t sure; the show is a chance to figure out now<\/em>, forever<\/em>, or never<\/em>.<\/p>

It was transfixing to watch a show where queer was the default. <\/p>

Instead of being Other the participants just were.<\/em><\/p><\/div>

There was none of the usual signaling or tokenism of shows with only a few queer participants\/characters; no hetero normativity. <\/p>

\"woman<\/figure>

Soapy plot-lines aside, it was cool and refreshing to see queer women flirt, do their make-up, argue, shuffle around in slippers, make romantic gestures, walk their dogs, pitch fits, drink too much.<\/p>

It should NOT be revelatory that queer people are human too, but, watching The Ultimatum<\/em>, made it clear that what we are presented with as normal<\/em> is in fact (hetero)normative. This doesn\u2019t reflect reality but constructs an image we are taught to accept as real.<\/p>

Resisting the norm<\/h2>

Michel Foucault\u2019s concept of normalization, the process by which ideas or ways of being come to be taken for granted, is pertinent. As educators, we are immersed in normalizing messaging, as are our students. They can be as invisible and pervasive as the air we breathe. Like tainted air, they are dangerous. <\/p>

Sociocultural imperatives about normalcy or (worse) naturalness \u2014 often deployed around subjects like sex, gender, social roles, economics, etc. \u2014 have the potential to do massive harm. Even when they seem innocuous, they put a subtle curb on imagination.<\/p>

Resistance is the only antidote. According to Foucault scholar Dianna Taylor<\/a>, \u201cRefusing to simply accept what is presented as natural, necessary, and normal \u2013 like the ideas of sex and the norm itself \u2013 presents possibilities for engaging in and expanding the practice of freedom.\u201d<\/p>

Positive normalization<\/h2>

Humans are neophobic, shying away from the unfamiliar. This calls for conscious effort to challenge unhelpful or restrictive norms with positive normalization, i.e., not of a particular way of being but of an open, curious approach to life.<\/p>

Replacing an old norm with a new norm simply shuffles the exclusion tiles. <\/p><\/div>

What we need, and we as educators should model, is normalizing acceptance, inquisitiveness and respect towards what is unfamiliar but not harmful.* Nobody is obliged to embrace someone else\u2019s way of living, but a good education should provide them with the self-awareness and self-confidence to live and let live.<\/p>

*By all means, reject ideas and actions that harm oneself or others<\/em><\/p>

\"people<\/figure>

What I strive to normalize in my classes<\/h2>