The End of Normal

In the realm of sex, gender, and sexuality, what is normal now? What is a normal marriage? A normal family? The answers were once commonly understood. 

While some might dither about details, most would broadly agree on what represented normal standards of such fundamental facets of human life: Marriage was a lifetime commitment between a man and a woman, defining a family and creating the healthiest environment for childrearing. Mankind was organized into males and females, and the fact that sex was designed to take place between a male and a female was an obvious matter of biology—often simply, if awkwardly, explained in terms of instructive birds and busy bees. The vast majority of parents—one dad and one mom, by the way—knew their child’s gender the moment he or she was born. 

That was the world most of us knew as recently as 20 years ago—or even ten. It is not the world we see today. In fact, in this "brave" new world, simply asking what is normal is offensive to many. One front in this assault on normal is the pervasive influence of Queer Theory. The University of Indiana provides a guide titled  "Introduction to Queer Theory" which gives this history of the movement: 

Queer Theory emerged in the 1990s out of the fields of lesbian, gay and gender studies. There are many interpretations, applications and uses of queer theory, but broadly, it can be taken as the study of gender practices/identities and sexualities that exist outside of cisgender and heterosexual "norms." Queer theorists and thinkers are critical of essentialist views on sexuality and gender and view these concepts as constructed social and cultural phenomena. https://guides.libraries.indiana.edu/c.php?g=995240&p=8361766 

By describing what we would call normal approaches to sexuality and gender as constructed, they are characterizing the normal view as man-made and unnatural. Queer Theory focuses specifically on deconstructing sexuality and gender—and, consequently, everything affected by those facets of life, such as family structure. 

Academics steeped in these ideas seek to subvert what has been considered normal and to celebrate what were previously "abnormal" ideas and practices. To them, it is not enough for society to merely accept or allow the fullest possible spectrum of sexual behaviors and "gender constructs." Their goal is to "queer" the discourse entirely, meaning to change mainstream thinking in society so that nothing is even thought of as "normal" or "not normal." 

Dr. Roberta Chevrette of Middle Tennessee State University, for instance, has written of the need to "queer family communication"—changing thinking and discussions within families so that heterosexuality is no longer held as the norm against which other sexualities are compared. The goal of these social engineers is to change societal thinking so that all forms of sexual activity are considered equally "normal." Of course, when everything is normal, nothing truly is. 

The "queering" of communication has proceeded at quite a pace! In fact, social engineers expect us to speak a different language with a different vocabulary including such words as "heteronormative," "heterosexism," "cisgender," and "cisnormativity." Are you familiar with these new words? These are some of the words being used to extinguish the very concept of normal.  

What is normal and who gets to define normal are just a few of the questions that will define our era.  

To hear more about the importance of normal families, click on the link in the description to watch out video: Does Family Matter?