The Creation Of Normal
In its purest form, normality can be regarded as a construct. Ian Hacking theorized how people are ‘made up’. His paper Making Up People, discusses how, and the ways in which people are ‘made up’ and categorized into certain positions. He states that new categories were created in order to fit and enumerate individuals, therefore creating new ways of people to be (Hacking, 1986). Therefore, the main premise of his discourse was the ‘the kind itself comes into being, at the time the kind itself is being invented’ (Hacking, 1986). Thus, as different races emerged through a European lens, they were created as different and inferior, in turn inventing social standings and hierarchies. This mode of creation thus emerged …show more content…
Thus, the main building blocks of modern society began with the dehumanization of ‘the other,’ through the invention of inferiority. Hacking goes on to discuss how the modes of ‘making up people’ are directly and deeply interconnected to ideas of social control (Hacking, 1986). Therefore, we can see how the construction of racial signifiers deem certain populations as ‘normal’ and proper and others as ‘deviant’ through these modes of discovering, description and documentation. In turn, those marked as different or abnormal by the European lens must be controlled. This interlocking categorization of power dynamics from above and Europeans thus created ‘Black’ (and Brown, Asian, Latino, Indigenous) as the absolute signifier of deviation form the normative category of ‘White,’ (Muhammad, 2011). Therefore, normality is a construct in which certain bodies were ‘created’ as normal and all others abnormal. This creation of normality is a European construct in which White bodies and their characteristics, religions and ways of life are categorized as normal and the grounds in which society must operate. White bodies have desirable attributes such as physical prowess, intelligence, hard work …show more content…
They are both constructs in which ‘normalcy’ resides. This notion of normalcy is constructed on the basis of what can be regarded as ‘proper’ and ‘acceptable’ behavior that fits into the confines of Whiteness, therefore anything residing outside this periphery is noted as abnormal or improper. This creates ideas of superiority and inferiority among different bodies, in which Whiteness is always at the top of the hierarchy and all others a below it. Race relations are power contests in which competing groups strive to strengthen their power resources while destroying or restricting those of an adversary group (Baker, 1978). The dominant groups control over structures enable them to destroy, restrict, or preclude the subordinate’s group acquisition of resources and mobilization capabilities (Baker, 1978). Thus, systems of excellence exist to protect Whiteness and expect Eurocentric definitions of acceptability and respectability. Thus, notions of excellence exist as a paradox in which racialized bodies are still incorporated in systems of domination whilst simultaneously thought to be given the same opportunities of success at White bodies. In addition, notions of meritocracy are a defining aspect of North American culture, effectively portraying a so-called ‘post racial society,’ as race is deemed as factor that does not play a role in the ‘success’ of individuals further ignoring the structural an
In its purest form, normality can be regarded as a construct. Ian Hacking theorized how people are ‘made up’. His paper Making Up People, discusses how, and the ways in which people are ‘made up’ and categorized into certain positions. He states that new categories were created in order to fit and enumerate individuals, therefore creating new ways of people to be (Hacking, 1986). Therefore, the main premise of his discourse was the ‘the kind itself comes into being, at the time the kind itself is being invented’ (Hacking, 1986). Thus, as different races emerged through a European lens, they were created as different and inferior, in turn inventing social standings and hierarchies. This mode of creation thus emerged …show more content…
Thus, the main building blocks of modern society began with the dehumanization of ‘the other,’ through the invention of inferiority. Hacking goes on to discuss how the modes of ‘making up people’ are directly and deeply interconnected to ideas of social control (Hacking, 1986). Therefore, we can see how the construction of racial signifiers deem certain populations as ‘normal’ and proper and others as ‘deviant’ through these modes of discovering, description and documentation. In turn, those marked as different or abnormal by the European lens must be controlled. This interlocking categorization of power dynamics from above and Europeans thus created ‘Black’ (and Brown, Asian, Latino, Indigenous) as the absolute signifier of deviation form the normative category of ‘White,’ (Muhammad, 2011). Therefore, normality is a construct in which certain bodies were ‘created’ as normal and all others abnormal. This creation of normality is a European construct in which White bodies and their characteristics, religions and ways of life are categorized as normal and the grounds in which society must operate. White bodies have desirable attributes such as physical prowess, intelligence, hard work …show more content…
They are both constructs in which ‘normalcy’ resides. This notion of normalcy is constructed on the basis of what can be regarded as ‘proper’ and ‘acceptable’ behavior that fits into the confines of Whiteness, therefore anything residing outside this periphery is noted as abnormal or improper. This creates ideas of superiority and inferiority among different bodies, in which Whiteness is always at the top of the hierarchy and all others a below it. Race relations are power contests in which competing groups strive to strengthen their power resources while destroying or restricting those of an adversary group (Baker, 1978). The dominant groups control over structures enable them to destroy, restrict, or preclude the subordinate’s group acquisition of resources and mobilization capabilities (Baker, 1978). Thus, systems of excellence exist to protect Whiteness and expect Eurocentric definitions of acceptability and respectability. Thus, notions of excellence exist as a paradox in which racialized bodies are still incorporated in systems of domination whilst simultaneously thought to be given the same opportunities of success at White bodies. In addition, notions of meritocracy are a defining aspect of North American culture, effectively portraying a so-called ‘post racial society,’ as race is deemed as factor that does not play a role in the ‘success’ of individuals further ignoring the structural an