Monday 16 December 2013

The variations of being normal

People talk about "Normal" or why can't you be "Normal". For me that is a very subjective word. It also changes with time.

It is December 2013. In December 1913 if you committed child abuse or were a pedophile, the chances were you would almost certainly have got away with it, as that sort of thing was not discussed in society back then. Nowadays it is viewed with horror and if you commit either act you will be looking at a prison sentence and will have to be protected in prison to stop other inmates from getting at you.

If you were a homosexual back then and were caught in a relationship with another man, you would be sent to prison or at least to see a psychiatrist to be cured. As late as the early 70's homosexuality was seen as a mental illness. Nowadays the age for homosexual sex is the same as heterosexual sex in the Western World, and gay marriage is allowed. What was seen as odd in the past is seen as normal now. Abortion was banned until 1967. It is legalised now in the UK. Who would dream of banning abortion or criminalising homosexuality now or turning an eye to pedophilia?

The slave trade was once seen as normal and so was viewing the mentally ill as being possessed by the devil. Who believes either are now?

It changes where in the word you live. What is seen as "Normal" in one culture or in one part of the world isn't in another.

So what actually is this "Normal" that people talk about? Is it how you behave? How you dress? Your lifestyle? The music you like? Your political views? Your religious views? Your views on morality? Where you like to go for a holiday?

What can it be when it changes so much with time, geography, culture and interpretation?