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║          Normativity           ║
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Posted: 2025-02-14
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Normativity can be described as normalcy reflected through the lens of criticism. 

While "normal" implies neutrality, "normative" inherently signals critical reflection, comparable to the term "generic."

You'll rarely or never hear someone say "I love how normative this is!" or "The normative aspects of this are working great!" The very choice to use the word "normative" instead of "normal" or "standard" signals that the speaker is about to critique or problematize something.

[Similarly,] you'll rarely hear someone say "I love how generic this is!" or use "generic" as a genuine compliment. Even in contexts where being standard or conventional might be perfectly fine, calling something "generic" specifically frames it as a deficiency.

While "normative" is used outside of critical theory (e.g., normative ethics, normative jurisprudence, normative institutionalism, normative social psychology, normative sociology), it frequently signals it.

With that in mind, from a critical-theoretical viewpoint, normativity can be observed in norms of language, such as when we utilize the term "he" to describe a man and a woman, though it emerged only notably in academic history, with the earliest evidence of this being recommended coming from Ann Fisher's 1745 A New Grammar (Wikipedia 2025).

Sticking to a critical-theoretical lens, beyond norms of language, normativity can be observed in epistemology (scientific knowledge in the form of Western medicine), ethics (monogamy), aesthetics (Eurocentricism), gender (the "nurturing and emotional woman vs. assertive and unemotional men" dichotomy), racial[1], neurotypicality, ability (ableism), time (e.g., chrononormativity, ageism), and technology[2].

[1]: "Standardized tests like the SAT are designed around cultural assumptions that favor white, middle-class students, making them the unspoken 'default.'"↩

[2]: "The assumption that everyone should own a smartphone and use social media, with those who don’t being viewed as 'out of touch' or 'behind the times.'"↩

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