At one point in the film, Erik rebukes Raven, remarking “You want society to accept you, but you can't even accept yourself”. Erik is displeased because Raven’s self-denial ultimately serves as deference to the societal institution. Her desperation to be normal contributes to popular conceptions of normalcy as the ideal. As Davis points out, “The implications of the hegemony of normalcy are profound and extend into the very heart of cultural production.” (Davis 49). To cite a different approach, Robert McRuer addresses popular opinion in his book Crip Theory by presenting the idea of compulsory able-bodiedness, inquiring “And who can blame them, if the alternative is being abnormal, or deviant or not being one of the rest of us? Put in those
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Variation means no one escapes the curse of the norm, which is comprised of so many standards that everyone will deviate sooner or later. Like our X-Men, individuals whose deviations are especially acute or abundant become more susceptible to social vindication. The tendency is to compensate by seeking normalcy elsewhere, latching on to whatever figment of normalcy we can. However, observing these attempts at normalization serves only as a statement of how uninclined we are towards immediate recognition of these qualities. Society is woefully dependent on first impressions and outside appearances, and callously obsessed with selfish gains. As we’ve seen, the disability model is relevant to instances of severe deviance. Davis somberly quotes “To have a disability is to be an animal, to be part of the other.” (Davis 40). A society where such sentiments exist holds in store other disturbing implications. If we are compelled to banish all flavors of strange - mutant, disabled, or something else entirely to the realms of unthinkability, the line dividing human and non-human must be drawn. When we consider the inherent volatility of life, it’s not unthinkable to imagine that someday fate may cast us across the line, to suffer beneath the glare where we once claimed our
Variation means no one escapes the curse of the norm, which is comprised of so many standards that everyone will deviate sooner or later. Like our X-Men, individuals whose deviations are especially acute or abundant become more susceptible to social vindication. The tendency is to compensate by seeking normalcy elsewhere, latching on to whatever figment of normalcy we can. However, observing these attempts at normalization serves only as a statement of how uninclined we are towards immediate recognition of these qualities. Society is woefully dependent on first impressions and outside appearances, and callously obsessed with selfish gains. As we’ve seen, the disability model is relevant to instances of severe deviance. Davis somberly quotes “To have a disability is to be an animal, to be part of the other.” (Davis 40). A society where such sentiments exist holds in store other disturbing implications. If we are compelled to banish all flavors of strange - mutant, disabled, or something else entirely to the realms of unthinkability, the line dividing human and non-human must be drawn. When we consider the inherent volatility of life, it’s not unthinkable to imagine that someday fate may cast us across the line, to suffer beneath the glare where we once claimed our