..........What is Normall..........

Normal is a word. But not a normal word. It is a loaded word. And like other loaded words, it is sometimes used as a weapon to keep you in line. For example, people often use "normal" as a label to describe people and situations they consider to be "safe" or non-threatening. Likewise, people often call "abnormal" the people and things they don't like, don't agree with, or that are just "different." Some people feel that you are normal when you are able to adjust to and accept the status quo and other written and unwritten "rules" handed down by the Establishment (as those in positions of power are sometimes called). That is, normal behavior is frequently thought to be behavior that conforms to society's jumble of taboos, fears, customs, rules, and laws. If what you are doing does not conform to what parents, friends and teachers expect, they say you are not dealing with "real" things and that this isn’t normal. They may be right, but, when you get down to it only you can decide what is true for you reality can change as you grow. If normal means conformity to rules and regulations (which change from culture to culture and from time to time), then dissenters, reformers, and creative people will be branded as abnormal. Similarly, we must be wary of accepting the majority's view as the norm. Is it normal to follow the latest fashions or fads because "stars" are doing it or because the mass media tell us what is "in" and "out"? Rather than worry about what is normal, we might think about what is not abnormal. For one thing, it is not abnormal to refuse to accept and adjust to all existing conditions. Martin Luther King, for example, refused to go along with segregationist laws and customs. By intelligent, well-planned protest and opposition, he was able to trigger off important changes (including the 1964 Civil Rights Act). Likewise, it is not abnormal for us to crusade against common evils like pollution, slums, corruption in business and government or the exploitation of one person by another. Conformity for its own sake is not a measure of normality. Super-conformists or super-nonconformists, at best, tend to lead boring lives. Nonconformity as an act of conscience can be a courageous and enriching force in a person's life, as demonstrated by the thousands of young men who refused to be drafted for the war in Vietnam. In a sense, these resisters can be accused of premature morality.