the definition of Bigot is :
a person who strongly and unfairly dislikes other people, ideas, etc. : a bigoted person;especially : a person who hates or refuses to accept the members of a particular group
(such as a racial or religious group)
I think this really is an accurate word to use in modern times. Hatred has gone beyond just race, to anyone who you can't describe as "normal".
Normal is, in itself, a hateful word when used to describe a person. There is no such thing as a "normal" person, but somehow, people see it as an ideal, and something that all humans should aspire to be.
And anyone who doesn't is cast out in most societies.
There are little to no cultures in present day that do not have traditional ways of thinking or societal rules of how to dress or act.
When I tried to search for a culture that did revere non-conformity, all that showed up in my search engine was essays and articles about how conformity crushes us.
One particular article caught my eye. It was from Psychology Today, a magazine for all of us psych lovers.
The title was a rather accurate description of todays world: "How Cultures Make People Conform".
Reading it, I was rather disturbed because, when I had hoped to find an example of a counterargument of my statement, I instead found pages verifying my thoughts.
This is one of the many times I wish I was wrong.
Normalcy, Traditions; these are words that add fuel to the fire created by bigots. They are used as weapons to beat down the unique ones and tell us to be ashamed of it, and we should strive to be "normal, even though many of us know that "normal" doesn't exist.
I agree with you, bigotry is sometimes a better word to use than racism. The article was very disturbing, the Japanese saying "the nail that sticks up gets hammered down” confirms that people want others to fit in and be "normal". You're absolutely correct when you say there is no such thing as "normal", unfortunately some people don't seem to recognize this.
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ReplyDeleteIn my experience most people do not recognize the whole problem with being "normal"
ReplyDeleteIt's seen as this ideal and anyone who hasn't found this social nirvana is clearly lacking. It's a dangerous way of thinking and has destroyed many lives to suicide and homicide
Fiona,
ReplyDeleteI’m not too clear on what your definition of “normal” is. Can you define it? This may sound silly, but I don't relate "normal" to being a 'hateful word", so we must be on different pages.
What I heard in your post was that you were questioning why people aspire to be normal. I think people don’t strive to be normal, but instead strive to be accepted. However, a step towards being accepted and liked, or in hopes to “look good”, someone may take actions that the society has predetermined as a proper thing to do/way to act. In other words, people try to be accepted through being similar to other people, or normal.
This past summer, I visited the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC (http://www.mnh.si.edu/ ). While exploring the exhibit regarding the origins of humans (http://humanorigins.si.edu/exhibit), I stumbled across a station explaining the importance of groups and how being liked in a group contributed to the survival or our ancestors. I found what you had to say pretty interesting: “…anyone who doesn't [act normal] is cast out in most societies. There are little to no cultures in present day that do not have traditional ways of thinking or societal rules of how to dress or act.” The concept of being normal seems to not only be a recent idea, but a method of surviving. If you didn't follow social norms, other tribe members wouldn't want to help you, and you'd have too little resources to live. Nowadays, we don't live in tribes that provide food for each other and would die without the support of other people. While times have changes, we continue to rely on the acceptance of others even though we don't need them to survive. That leaves me confused, though; Why do we keep trying to be normal or alike to others if we don't need to to survive? Do you have any thoughts on that?
Hope to hear what you think,
Lizzy