The concept of normality is one that is made by man to in order to assign an “identity” to those around us. “Normal” is everywhere and there is a recognized and subconsciously agreed upon “normal” quality to every aspect of life, whether it be physical, mental, or social. The excerpt from Lennard J. Davis’s book Enforcing Normalcy: Disability, Deafness, and the Body titled “Constructing Normalcy” explains the origins of the concept of “the norm” in our society, created to give people a ranked place in society. You are either at the top, having most of the ideal qualities, or pushed aside at the bottom seen as a degenerate. Currently, we as a society believe that achieving the norm is achieving the ideal. However, by looking at classical paintings and the societies of the Classical Era as Davis discusses, we see that the people of this time period saw this “ideal norm” as unattainable and godlike. This classical philosophy is confirmed by the perfectionist mentality representing the much sought after yet, unachievable and unattainable “norm” that Davis analyzes in “Constructing Normalcy”.

In “Constructing Normalcy”, Davis discusses how concepts of the norm change from time period to time period. One of the main points that is claimed by Davis is that “if we rethink our assumptions about the universality of the concept of the norm, what we might arrive at is the concept that preceded: that of the ‘ideal’” (Davis 4). Davis explains how the “ideal” presents a “mythopoetic body that is linked to that of the gods” and that in this case, the “ideal body, is not attainable by a human” (Davis 4). Davis continues to establish this idea of the impossible norm, as can be seen with the reference of François-André Vincent’s painting Zeuxis Choosing as Models the Most Beautiful Girls of the Town of Crotona. Davis describes the painting as it shows a Greek artist lining up women choosing each ideal body part in from them in order to create a representation of Aphrodite, the ideal of physical beauty. It is then explained how “the central point here is that in a culture with an ideal form of the body, all members of the population are below the ideal” (Davis 4). These examples demonstrate how Davis analyzes normality. The normal was unreachable, as the ideal was only achieved by the gods. This led to the people of this civilization not striving to be normal, as they knew that it was a pointless effort. The norm was based on the ideal, a principle that was only achievable by gods, thus something mere mortals could never mount to no matter how hard they tried. Society has evolved to the point in which everyone now strives for the norm. However, since the norm is fabricated of all the qualities that are deemed favorable, the norm will forever be unachievable. The norm is fabricated, an abstract concept of the human psyche that people fail to realize is impossible to achieve naturally. As a result, everyone in society will feel inadequate as they are obviously unable to reach this unrealistic standard that has been deemed a “norm”. No matter how hard one tries, no human can be normal. This idea of the impossible norm is also seen in the modern day as people strive to be deemed as ideal.

Due to this concept of normalcy and achieving the ideal, perfectionism has become a problem in our society. Perfectionism is a personality trait in which a person refuses to accept any standard of falling short of perfection or the ideal. These people hold themselves accountable if they do not exceed society’s expectations. It has gotten to the point where being a perfectionist can be dangerous and affect themselves and others in long term ways. These societal expectations mostly derive from social media. The article, Pitfalls of Perfection by Hara Estroff Marano, discusses the thinking process of a perfectionist when comparing themselves to ideal standards. Marano emphasizes that “perfectionism consumes more and more of the self”. Perfectionists will become consumed by thoughts of achieving nothing short of perfection. Perfectionists will achieve perfection at any cost, losing their sense of self and individuality in order to achieve the ideal beauty standards. It is ultimately “self-destructive to devote all one’s psychic resources to oneself” (Marano). Achieving perfection will become a person’s only prerogative in life, they will continue to criticize and self-destruct until they believe they have achieved societies norm. A dangerous game to play that ultimately has no winners since the norm is based on the compilation of various ideals, all of which is impossible for a single person to possess naturally.

When comparing perfectionism to Davis’s book, we can see in today’s society perfectionist tend to still go to extreme measures to look like the ideal women in the modelling industry. In our modern society, a perfectionist’s mentality can drive them to become bulimic, anorexic, depressed, or seeing a plastic surgeon to get the ideal body image implemented by society. In some cases, these conditions can lead to self- harm, suicide, and/or death because the standards are extremely high and perfectionists see themselves as not good enough for themselves or the world. Looking through Davis’ lens we can see the harmful effects of societal norms because society continues to degrade those who are different and praise those who are most similar to ideal, just as they did in the Classical Era. Social media has only been an enabler for the perfectionist mentality by promoting the “norm” for body image. The ideal woman that is promoted has a small waist, large bust and bottom, and an hourglass figure all of which compile to make the unattainable goal of being ideal without major reconstruction. In today’s society, it is extremely hard to ignore the ideal as we are exposed to it through many different platforms. Whether it be through music, videos, movies, books, and technology, the world we live in is harsh and judgmental.

“Constructing Normalcy”, “Pitfalls of Perfection”, and the perfectionist mentality reveal the theme of the unattainable “ideal norm” and its harmful effects on society. The philosophies of Classical societies on beauty and the mentality of perfectionists result in the striving for an impossible goal. By comparing ourselves to others and setting standards for certain qualities, we as a society create a mask on human individuality. We should move away from the toxic mentality of “being normal” and rather focus on celebrating our unique qualities that make us who we are.

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Davis, Lennard J. “Constructing Normalcy.” Enforcing Normalcy: Disability, Deafness, and the Body. London: Verso, 1995. N.

Marano Estroff Hara. “Pitfalls of Perfection.” Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200803/pitfalls-perfectionism* March 2008.