The Concept Of Normality

II. The Concept of Normalcy
In order to understand what exactly are needed to be considered and addressed in the literature regarding the notion of disability, it is first important to understand the concept itself and the issues that come with it.
As Davis states, “we live in a world of norms” (3). It is the set of standards to which people base their lives in order to fit in and to which they expect others to follow.
There are many ways to define the word “normal.” Davis defines it as “constituting, conforming to, not deviating or different from, the common type or standard, regular, usual” (4). Cameron, on the other hand, defines it as the way “in which people think themselves in relation to others around them” and that it is “dependent

In his research, he came up with the “normal curve of distribution” which measured and ranked traits and characteristics of human beings in relation to what is considered the imperative norm. It statistically resulted in the concept of the Normal Body and the Deviant Body. The Normal Body is considered to be ‘what the body should be’ as opposed to what the Deviant Body is. The normal body then becomes a strict template for the human body and hence encourages uniformity or that human characteristics should be the same. Anything that does not conform to the “uniform product” is considered “defective” (Davis

Because it is physically impossible to overcome a disability, it seems that what is overcome is the social stigma of having a disability. This idea is reinforced by the equally confounding statement “I never think of you as disabled.” An implication of these statements is that the other members of the group from which the individual has supposedly moved beyond are not as brave, strong, or extraordinary as the person who has overcome that designation. (Linton 165)
The desire for normalcy mostly serves the purpose of being perceived as normal by the outsiders or the able-bodied community. However, some of the members of the disabled community believe that they are not considered normal because the people themselves and their environment do not give them the opportunities to prove that they can function just as well as a normal being, in their own way. As Paul Hunt states:
But more important, what kind of goal is this elusive normality? If it does man simply trying to be like the majority, then it is hardly a good enough ideal at which to aim. Whether they are physically handicapped or not, people need something more than this to work towards if they are to contribute their best to society and grow to