Normal-adj. Conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected.
I feel like a great deal of people have a warped idea of what today's 'typical' family really consists of. I can't really blame most of them for their ignorance. A lot of parents work very hard to shield anything that strays from their idea of normalcy. They silence the education of it in schools, home school their children to prevent knowledge from social exposure, fight to ban specific books from existing in libraries, the list goes on and on. Some children raised in what I like to call a 'bubble world' will continue to spend their entire adult life there as well. Then, repeat the cycle for their children. Others raised in this environment may grow up, discover the world for what is truly consists of and resent their parents for leading them to believe otherwise for their entire life.
Like Francis Bacon, I firmly believe that "Knowledge is Power". When you cover your eyes and ears to the things that you wish didn't exist they will still continue to exist. When you put forth an honest effort to understand the things you fear, the things you hate, you often find that you no longer need to cover your eyes and ears. The fact is, it's rarely the thing in which we think we fear or hate that we actually fear or hate. It is something within ourselves that needs the adjusting. The hardest task is in training ourselves to accept things as 'they' are, rather than as 'we' are. After years and years of training ones mind to discriminate first, and ask questions later we struggle with absorbing any new knowledge. Our minds discredit anything we don't already believe because it works on auto pilot. I encourage you, please...take control of your mind. Stop looking to 'popular belief', or your parents, or the bible. Yes, I said it...THE BIBLE. This is not to say that these influences are wrong, or right for that matter. How we interpret what we hear or read will make them so, and for most people this is where the problem lies. We have been uniquely designed to think for ourselves. This wasn't by accident. The How-To Manual for life doesn't exist because it's not necessary. Every human being knows right from wrong. We feel it. The tough part about 'feeling' right from wrong is being in tune with yourself enough to decipher your actual feelings from your brain telling you how you 'should' or 'shouldn't' feel. Once you are able to distinguish the difference, you will be forever transformed and instantly enlightened. When it comes to the subject of connection and love, those feelings still apply. I need not feel what you feel for another being in order to accept your behavior. You have been programmed just as I have to know for yourself.
Stereotyping exists in all of us. We're all guilty of committing some form of it on a regular basis. If I see a man in skimpy shorts dancing down the sidewalk with a rainbow tank top on, I'm going to think to myself, "I wish I could dance like a gay boy". Odds wise, the man was probably gay, and a lot of gay men are great dancers. BUT, this is not always the case. Stereotyping has been around for centuries. It's not anything new and it's not going away anytime soon. Unfortunately, most stereotypes cast result in a negative generalization of a specific group of people. Ignorance is NOT bliss. Many people depend on the common stereotype to rationalize how they feel about a specific group of people. In fact, generalized stereotyping has been the soul deciding factor for many laws created throughout history and even for laws being created today.
For this reason, along with with a few others, I've decided that it's time to shed some light on a very specific stereotype. One that I'm extremely familiar with, lesbians. The incredibly inaccurate stereotypes placed on this group of women have been a driving force behind countless acts of unnecessary discrimination. Yes, I am a lesbian. My sexuality, however, has very little to do with who I am as a person. I am a mother, a committed partner, a sister, a daughter, a Bland, a photographer, a writer...these are the words my family would use to describe me. You may not know me personally, but consider this an invitation. I would like to open a window to my world and those who share it with me. Perhaps this will aid as a connection source for some and an eye opener for others.
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