Reflection of Khan’s “The Broken Model” Chapter 2

What is “normal?”

I’ve written about my thoughts on the term previously, and my statements still stand. With how differently each person lives their life, it grows more and more difficult to come up with a concise and comprehensive definition for such a word. Khan brings up the long-lived adage of eating three meals every day. At least in recent memory, eating three meals a day is not as common anymore as it once was. Some eat two meals, or four meals, or even one. Why do we stick to such a habit? Why do we hold on to such traditions, even if most of them do not apply to our daily lives as much as they did all those years ago?

Continuing on with Khan’s writings, the “Prussian system” of education (the slicing into “core subjects”, division of the day into periods, etc.) largely rose in American schools through the first half of the 19^th century. A great number of these values are, to say the least, irrelevant in our modern society. Horace Mann wanted to apply Prussia’s process of “building a middle class capable of filling the jobs of a booming industrial sector,” but, as we see today, not many of the jobs taken are in what was part of the “booming industrial sector” of the 19^th century. At least from my perspective, not nearly as many people are working the traditional blue-collar jobs that were seen in the Industrial Revolution. Not to say that no one is taking these jobs—they are still an important part of our country’s infrastructure—but it seems less common among the younger generations entering the workforce.

  

To return to the idea of normal, psychologist Dr. Yvette Erasmus supports the belief that cultural norms are designed to create and reinforce social and political hierarchies (patriarchy, authoritarianism, etc.). The rigid gender roles of the mid-20th century and earlier are continuously being attempted to be framed as “normal”, regardless of how much progress we have made towards breaking these gender roles and allowing for a more cohesive and diverse workforce. Dr. Erasmus has also stated that “normal” has been used to judge and oppress those who have different feelings or needs than what is expected of them by society. Such suppression, Dr. Erasmus says, assists in maintaining control.

In essence, what may look normal (or what may be considered normal) does not always mean it is healthy for us as people or as a society. High stress is considered normal for many fields of life, but it has such a negative effect on us. An important statement that Dr. Erasmus makes is that the concept of normal was merely created as a method of control, and that if we lead a path to liberation with self-authenticity, we can let go of normal as a term.

https://yvetteerasmus.com/75-the-problem-with-normal/