Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Celebrate normalcy? Not so fast ...

A parent said to her son, "Why can't you be normal like ... ?" I was a bit surprised at the comparison between the teenager and myself. It felt pleasant at first but the feeling actually came from internal knowledge that I probably do not fit into the category of mainstream normalcy. It was ironic because of the incongruence between what is perceived of me and what I know of my self. It was also a sign that some investigative curiosity was needed to begin an exposé about this Normal. Derrida calls this process deconstruction. Surprisingly for the parent, Normal meant eking out a living and respecting self and body. So what is Normal to you?


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