On Normies
One thing that consistently surprised me in America is how much negativity Americans associate with “normies” – people who are perceived to lack distinct individual traits. This is something that didn't really exist where I grew up. Certainly, I was surprised when at one point I described someone as normal, and that person reacted as if it was a slight.
America exports so much cultural values to the rest of the world that it can be kind of easy to forget that American values are a bit of an extreme case. In Hoftsteader's Cultural Framework, America ranks the highest in terms of individualism. This means that being different is likely considered more of a value in America than any other country in the world, and popular American media pretty often reflect this – Queen's Gambit, Spiderman – Into the Spiderverse, and Ready Player One being quick examples that come to mind.
It's hard to say whether things like this are good or bad – after all, America does do well in the world. It is also true that to a certain extent, I feel like I'm starting to internalize the vague notion that “normies” are “bad” as well. But still, whenever I hear or say the word normie, a sort of cognitive dissonance flashes through my mind, and I'm reminded of how much culture really shapes how people see themselves and others.
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Categorized under: #psychology #sociology