What is Considered Normal in our World

One of the most obvious things that we are noticing in our everyday lives is that people are distinctly different. There are 7 billion people sharing the earth. But how many are considered “normal”? When are people considered abnormal? To be normal is to adhere to a standard or norm, but unfortunately, normality is an impossible and unlikely dream that we will continue to strive for all our lives. We strive for it because it gives us that sense of self that we need to reassure us that we fit in. While undefined, depending on your upbringing, generation and culture, what you consider normal may not be normal for someone else because other countries and cultures have different traditions and practices that they view to be routine; and what in the past has been viewed as normal has evolved throughout the course of time.

Your definition of normal depends on where you live or what kind of place you live in. Every culture around the world has set traditions and expectations that are considered to be normal. There are some tribes in Africa that still do traditional dances, ceremonies and religious practices that our American society deems as abnormal. In our country we are fortunate to have freedom for all, but in other countries those simple liberties are not given. In Yemen, women are not allowed to leave the house without permission from their husbands also in Saudi Arabia and Morocco female rape victims can be charged with crimes. I read an article about a Moroccan girl who committed suicide after a judge forced her to marry her rapist. In another case I read about, a young female adolescent who was sentenced by the court to receive ninety lashes for being in the same car with a man that she was not married to. Though how shocking...

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...uld most likely have a very different opinion than my own. But that goes to show you how what is considered normal for one generation can be vastly different from another.

To be considered normal or abnormal has been just a label society places on you to explain individuality. When we are younger, we were given a mixed message that being different and unique is acceptable, however growing up in a society that wants you to blend in and adhere to the norms and usual customs of that culture is difficult. Being dissimilar often leads you to be judged and considered deviant. What you perceive not only defines your idiosyncratic judgment, so does your culture, prejudices, upbringing and generation you belong to. In our modern day society a universal normal has not, nor ever will exist. We think, look and all act differently and the reality of it is, no one is normal.