Abnormal people: When did you first realise you were....

[AwkwardlySet]

The term "Normal" comes from Latin "normalis" which apparently meant fitting into carpenter square. All of you who payed attention at math classes know that normal angle is 90 degrees angle, or "right angle" if I am not mistaken about the English term. I think that is the most accurate description of being normal - "fitting into something". In this case fitting into standard social norms which are once again created so the majority of the population can fit into them. We are the ones who do not fit into that carpenter's square; we belong to that minority, which in turn makes us non-normal or abnormal. It also means we tend to stand out, one way or another. Exceptional people were almost never normal, they could never fit into social norms of their time. There are thousands of such examples.

Now, not every abnormal person is really exceptional, but I'd say huge majority, if not all of the exceptional people ARE abnormal. It is harder being abnormal. It is also much harder to achieve happiness in my opinion. If you would find a magical lamp with a genie inside, would you ever wish to become normal?

 

[AlexBailey]

In this case fitting into standard social norms which are once again created so the majority of the population can fit into them.

Are ‘standard social norms’ created with intention?

There may be some people with enough influence to define what is considered ‘normal’, but I think it’s s more about trends and expectations.

Fashion is fluid. It’s a social construct enforced by expectations and those who would bully others into conforming with those expectations. What article of clothing (besides a bra) hasn’t been ‘normally’ worn by either sex sometime, somewhere in the last two-hundred years? I love the pics of America’s founding fathers in ankle length trousers, stockings and pumps, with blouses, and wigs with ponytails tied with ribbons.

Why is it unusual for men to wear dresses, skirts, and leggings? Why should gender be used to strictly determine how someone should present? There are and have been rules and laws in many societies about what people can wear. Why?

If you would find a magical lamp with a genie inside, would you ever wish to become normal?

There have been times in my life when that may have been my wish.

I hid my ‘self’ for many years when my ex wife and my parents tried to argue in court that I was an unfit parent because I had “deviant sexual proclivities.” The case hung over me for years before a judge finally told them “We don’t remove children from households because of the gender identity or sexual orientation of a parent.”

For my first thirty years my parenta expressed disappointment, laying their religious beliefs and fears on me. It wasn’t until my kids all became highly functional adults that my parents came to respect me as a person and not as someone possessed by demons. Why? Because I have feminine traits that I don’t try to hide and I sometimes present in ways that embrace it.

Fuck normal and anyone who gets upset by the existence or visibility of outliers.

 

[nice90sguy]

"abnormal" in the thread title is a self-description which is, like "queer", a badge I wear proudly.

This.

Fuck normal and anyone who gets upset by the existence or visibility of outliers.

And this.