Assignment 5 women psy - Essay Example

Normality, Race and Gender Normality, Race and Gender Normal can be defined on several different terms, notably the lack of a significant deviation from the average (on whatever terms are being measured), and in terms of human personality, the existence of emotional control, a certain degree of personal independence, the ability to delay gratification, concern with the development of personal potential and a basic sense of self that is in control of the environment (Halmos 1957). One basic issue that arises from this definition, and from use of the term itself, is that minority groups must then be measured as ‘normal’ in terms of their own minority instead of in terms of society on the whole, or even their specific country.

In particular, racial and gender differences between people are the basis for different measurements of normality, something that makes a general normalcy measurement for all of mankind difficult to ascertain. The first major issue concerning normalcy measures is the existence of several different races among people; in America, for example, there are several prominent minority groups including African-Americans, Latin-Americans and Asian-Americans. Due to the cultural and religious backgrounds of these people, they cannot properly be compared to white Americans and therefore the definition of normal must be changed to accommodate them.

It is not logical to group Asian-Americans in with white Americans in terms of religious beliefs, for example, because the sheer numbers of white Americans will overpower the Asian-Americans so that the latter must be defined as deviant (John 1994). Similarly, a comparison of income between white Americans and Latin-Americans who have only recently immigrated will mark out the latter group as deviant from the norm, set by white Americans who simply have a much higher population. Normalcy in terms of ethnic groups becomes very difficult to ascertain because of cultural and initial economic differences which mark out the minority groups as abnormal.

Another problem with the definition of normal is its lack of relevance between men and women, regardless of culture. For example, it may considered normal for women to be concerned about health issues like breast cancer and osteoporosis, it is likewise normal for men to be concerned with heart disease and colon cancer. Men and women do not have the same types of health risks, and so to group them together to ascertain what is the normal concern pattern will be dependent completely on the numbers of each gender questioned.

Although this would technically produce a normalcy rating, it would arguably be biased in favor of one gender and therefore of no real consequence throughout society (Notman and Nadelson 1991). Normalcy is basically measured in terms of averages, but it does become necessary in many cases, such as those of ethnic minorities, different races throughout the world and males and females, to separate normalcy ratings so that they are more realistic. Grouping everyone into the same category can result in illogical results.

Reference ListHalmos, P. (1957). Towards a Measure of Man: The Frontiers of Normal Adjustment. London: Routledge and Paul. John, R.A. (1996). Heterogeneities: Race, Gender, Class, Nation, and State. Amherst: University Of Massachusetts. Notman, M. and Nadelson, C. (1991). Women and Men: New Perspectives on Gender Differences. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.