Johnson chapter 2

The main point of this chapter is that we are not born with a fear of the unknown but it is instilled in us by our culture. Johnson explains that things like disability, race, and gender are defined by the dominant group in the culture. He explains that people that need a wheelchair are considered disabled; however people who need glasses to see more clearly are not thought to be perfectly normal because the dominate group says it’s okay.

Johnson explains that in Native American cultures that a baby that was born without clear male or female characteristics was placed into a third category that was not abnormal. He also goes on to say that individuals could change genders without being thought of as deviant. In today’s culture such a person would be considered transgender and in most cases transgender people are excluded from “normal” society. The author talks about the power that our culture places on race. He explains that a woman in Africa does not think of herself as black because it is not important in her culture. Likewise a man in Norway does not think himself white because his culture is somewhat colorblind, but if one was to transplant these people into America where a great deal of privilege is dependent on being white these individuals would quickly realize that they were of a their respective races.

Is it not wise to teach our children to fear others who are not thought of as “normal”? For instance if we were not taught to fear strangers who drive windowless vans near playgrounds, and offer candy in exchange for their assistance in finding a lost puppy many more of us would have been kidnapped as small children. It is true that we teach our children to fear but a certain amount of fear is healthy. Perhaps in our society we have gone so overboard that people fear to approach anyone who is different from them in any way.

I think that this chapter was very good. I think that it was interesting how Johnson makes comparisons between people as they age. It’s strange to at one time we were all curious two year olds that were totally fearless and from the moment we could talk we said whatever came to mind unaware that it wasn’t the social norm. In some cultures this might have been encouraged but in ours and many others, like our own are parents began the life long struggle to teach us not to stare, point or ask personal questions.