Michelle Rodriguez Journal Post #3

Reading these articles made me again question who decided what was normal? who decided the standard to which we measure “normal” against was a “strong, white, upper-class, rich man?” Why does that make them normal? And those who don’t measure up why are anything but “normal.” People are unnecessarily complicated. People should be allowed to express themselves how they see fit without having someone else tell them they are wrong. People come in different shapes and sizes, different hair color, eye color, and so on and so forth, but we are all people. Not one person, class, race, etc. should be superior over another and it is silly for one group of people to think they are superior. We should all be getting to know about one another so that we can all better co-exist with one another. Like the article states, we need to familiarize ourselves with past transgressions, understand them and then make change so that we move forward in a way that rights a wrong. We shouldn’t dislike others for what they look like or how they dress, speak, eat, traditions and so on and so forth. And I believe this all starts at home and then reinforced in schools beginning with teaching acceptance and respect. Acceptance/respect regardless if you don’t understand. Acceptance/respect regardless if it’s not “normal.” to you. Acceptance/respect regardless if you don’t like/agree. The world is changing and so are we and therefore what was considered “normal” 100, 50 even 10 years ago is not “normal” now. And again, normal can mean so many different things to so many different people. My normal won’t be the same to others. Some may not even agree with how I was raised nor in turn how I raise my sons. But as long as we don’t offend others and impose on others we are entitled to our opinions.