The Ethics of Forced Normalcy

In the past society has condemned so-called socially deviant behaviors and orientations such as homosexuality. Psychologists, religious leaders, teachers, and other supposedly well-meaning people tried to reform these so-called deviant homosexuals to be straight, or to at least, not act on their orientations.

Most of us in the west have come to at least accept and sometimes even welcome homosexuality. It has entered mainstream culture in big ways and, at least in the larger metropolitian areas, is generally considered acceptable . Same sex couples can live together, hold hands, kiss, and basically do everything straight couples do. The point is, we no longer think they need to be "fixed".

This is not the case for other individual differences such as different learning styles, interpersonal styles, and moral orientations. What I mean by this is that there isa growong movement among people with Asperger's to not be forced to normal social interactions. there are certain mannerisms which non-Aperger's people may not feel is normal, but help Asperger's people interact. Forcing them to cease this behavior and adopt more normal behavior is dangerously close to forcing homosexuals to become straight.

The same may be said about learning styles. In our standardized schooling system, there are many children who can not sit still first thing in the morning, or in the afternoon, or learn through rote memorization, or a whole host of differences in individual attention and learning styles. While some of this cross-training is necessary to prepare students to interact with employers and other people, blanket conformity is oppressive. it prevents people from reaching their even mid-range potential and is essentially a human rights violation. Or at least can be argued to be a human rights violation since the pursuit of happiness is a constitutionally desired right.

My intent here is simply to point out how we may be falling into the same old traps of trying to "help" people live "normal" lives. We should keep the idea fresh in our minds that our good intentions may actually be just as oppressive and wrong-headed as "fixing" homosexuals.