The concept of being normal is a big topic for me. Some people would say that there is no such thing as normal. The thing is that as long as people label others as weirdos and as long as xenophobia exists, normal will be enforced as a concept. Another cliche is that it doesn’t matter what others think of you and maybe it doesn’t, but it does matter when people have the power to hurt others.
As an urban Native that grew up in a town with a mostly white population, as a bisexual person that grew in a religious, homophobic family, and as somebody that knew all sorts of other random oppression, the possibility of being normal has been just out of my grasp. Sometimes, there were terrible consequences for not being normal. It feels like I have to create my own path and find my own niche.
When I found out that Foucault wrote about being abnormal and the classification of normal, I really related to that. Even reading about Frida Kahlo saying that she’s weird, I related to that. Labeling yourself as weird is seen as an individualistic tendency, but I think it can be a way to find others that are weird. Weirdness creates community, art, comedy, and new solutions.
Cultural differences can feel weird. Nobody is universal, but nobody wants to feel othered. It's tough to figure out where the line is.
