No they aren't.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Why not?

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Tallglassofwater explained it perfectly. Don't get me wrong, I respect the gays but yeah, not normal.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

"Normal" does not necessarily refer to the majority. Left handed people are in the minority but you wouldn't call them abnormal. You also wouldn't call racial minorities abnormal..

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Dictionary.com describes normal as, "the average or mean." And with the racial minorities one, if there was 99 white people in a room and 1 black person, would you not consider the black person abnormal? Same goes for 99 black people and 1 white person.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

normal also means perpendicular, doesn't mean that a word can't also have more significance in a cultural context.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

just because it isnt normal doesnt make it abnormal, that would mean its weird, normal means it common.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Well, TECHNICALLY, "normal" refers to whatever the majority is. So... yeah... I see what you're saying, but no.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

But if it refers to the majority, then it's completely subjective, depending on the situation. Like, in 50 years, people have said the majority of the world will be some percentage Asian. Are all people without Asian linage then "abnormal". I wouldn't use abnormal as a synonym for minority, or different. And, if you narrow it down a specific location - say, a gay bar - then a heterosexual person would be in the minority, but it doesn't make them abnormal.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I'm pretty sure it's abnormal for a straight person to be in a gay bar just sayin'

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I'm just being technical and ignoring all of the implications society has placed on "normal" and "abnormal." Normal does not always mean good, and abnormal does not always mean bad. My definition of abnormal is: deviating from a standard. My definition of normal is: conforming to the standard or the common type. What is normal and what is abnormal does completely rely on the situation you are looking at. In this post, the teacher is speaking in general terms, so I took "gay people aren't normal" as meaning they are not normal universally. It's no secret that gay people are in the minority throughout the universe, so according to the technical definitions, they would be considered abnormal. If that makes any sense what-so-ever. I just got home from the SAT, so my mind is a tad jumbled haha

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Nah, no problem. I think maybe I just over-reacted a touch to the word "abnormal", because I tend to associate abnormal as wrong, if you know what I mean. Like, it terms of sexuality, being attracted to the opposite sex is normal, but being attracted to the same or both, is also normal, whereas I would consider something like attraction to children abnormal. But I think that's more my own opinion, even though I do think most people would be inclined to agree But I just think there are many things in one particular concept that are normal, even though some of them may be in the minority. Whereas I would associate the word abnormal with something that is ... not the minority, but not the standard. I can't explain it. Not nessacarily wrong, but. Like, some babies are born with hair, and some aren't. Born are normal, although one may occur far less than the other. But a baby born with, say, a arm missing would be abnormal, but (continued)

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I'm trying to think of a word other than "wrong" to descibe it (being "wrong" doesn't feel like the right word).

by Anonymous 14 years ago

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ4WoB0lHHfcF_FH5C-Cdps_R0eXpNswDa8odY9mSPVJPF-WkvRTw&t=1 LAWL

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Might be delving into the realms of overly-politically-correct, which I don't like, but I don't think you could use normal to describe things such as being Caucasian, heterosexual, cisgendered, able-bodied, etc.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Exactly. That implies that everyone else is weird. Or that those "normal" people are boring.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I think there's more than one normal in any situation. Like, if you get ten people, and 8 of them prefer apples, don't mean the 2 that prefer oranges are abnormal. Like, I'm thinking of parenting magazines, where someone would go "my baby does blah, blah, is this normal for (baby's age)" and the doctor giving answers would either say that it is rare but normal, or that is was abnormal and to consult a real life doctor about it. But just because it wasn't a common thing for a baby that age to do, doesn't mean that it was abnormal.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Terrible point. Caucasian, heterosexual, cisgendered, able-bodied are normal in the form of they are the majority, youre the one saying that not being the majority is "weird"

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Maybe. I think once you get past it, it might go into the "being too politically correct". But, with the picture I gave up above, used "normal" as another word for majority in comparison terms. Like, would you say "There are three women. One is an Asian woman, one is an African woman, and one is a normal woman"? And, as a gay man, I wouldn't like somone to compare me to another person by going "Simon is a homosexual man. John is a normal man."

by Anonymous 14 years ago

duuhhhh but thats comparing yo to one other person where you cannot be the minority

by Anonymous 14 years ago

What if I was? Like, let's say there are ten men in a room. "Two of the ten men are homosexual, eight of them are normal" still isn't appropriate.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

yeah but when is that gonna happen. the teacher was talking about the world population in general

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Technically, no, because humans were made to reproduce, ya know. But there's nothing wrong with it.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Maybe she meant it as a compliment. "There are normal, boring straight people, and then there are super-mega-foxy-awesome-hot gay people."

by Anonymous 14 years ago