REDEFING NORMAL
“Diversity shouldn’t be newsworthy. It should be normal”
AGE OF ACCEPTANCE
It’s unanimous, there is no one rule for everyone. Growing up in an era that has seen a rise in openness and democratic freedom, it comes as no surprise that our Tribes are more tolerant than past generations. They see individual differences as a cause for celebration and an opportunity for discovery and learning, something we know is important to young people today. In our January PDF ‘Tribes for change’, our members foresaw 2015 as the year for taking action for necessary social change. As we enter the second half of the year, Tribes attitudes take shape and their goals have become clearer. They are throwing out realms of normality – and in this – they advocate a society that is united by its differences. So this month, we open the floor to our cultural diplomats to tell us exactly what it means to be socially diverse today. Tribes share with us their attitudes towards diversity for topics ranging from race to religion to music preferences and the media.
“Being the young generation I think it’s so important for us to set an example for future generations. If I could look back on my life knowing that my generation was the one that eradicated homophobia – transphobia – racism etc. I don’t think I could ask for anymore”
MIXING IT UP
“No genre can define my taste – only a word – eclectic!”
Expression is encouraged and underpins today’s society – in tandem with the rise of social media and the wider Internet as platform. These offer unlimited access points for learning that never existed before. With more avenues to explore, Tribes tastes diversify as they dip into a little bit of everything to form their identities. No longer restricted from certain lifestyles or interests, the choice about where they go and what they consume is theirs.
This is clearly reflected in their music consumption. Tribes describe their music preferences as ‘eclectic’ – most unable to be contained or identified by one genre. When it comes to discovery, they’ve got plenty of choice – YouTube, Spotify and other online streaming services through to radio and word of mouth recommendations. The industry is no doubt capitalising on this, bringing fresh offers such as Apple Music to the table, with personalised playlists and stations that encourage diversity and exploration.
For Tribes, sharing different interests with peers is an overwhelmingly positive thing. Broadening their own music horizons gives them things to talk about; valuable social cache. What’s more, taste is personal, but interest in music is universal so diverse tastes bring Tribes closer to their peers, allowing them to connect to a larger network of people.
I like most music – ranging from Taylor swift to Ensiferum. I can go to listening to classical one moment and pagan metal the other. ”
THE SCHOOL OF LIFE
Ignorance is not cool
Through knowledge comes understanding and through understanding comes acceptance. Ignorance is an ugly trait and deemed unacceptable in the eyes of Tribes, whatever your views may be. They’re realists and promote freedom of speech, however they don’t see this as an excuse to fling any old words around – cue Katie Hopkins! In essence, they are prioritising sensible well-informed discussion over crude, insulting or prejudicial expression. Tribes highlight the importance of open conversation, lots of questions and tackling issues head on in order to build a more tolerant society, with growing multiculturalism in learning institutes and wider society providing a suitable backdrop for this.
“The best way to change minds is to confront prejudices head on and allow questions to be asked and answered.”
#CULTURECLASH
Tribes are proud of the UK and it’s position as a cultural melting pot. The country thrives on diversity – but they are pragmatic and know that where there are so many opportunities to clash, tensions are inevitable. However, rather than allowing races to be stimatised, our young people are advocating sensitivity and understanding when it comes to topics such as immigration and counter-terrorism in order to prevent this from happening. They are accepting of the fact that not everyone fully understands the ins and outs when it comes to complicated topics such as religion. Their solution calls for open, thoughtful conversations that will allow knowledge blanks to be filled and more informed opinions to be created. In light of actions like the recent Counter-Terror bill – that requires schools to monitor students for suspicious activity – Tribes have made it clear they don’t want to avoid talking about topics like race and religion and let them slip through the net. How can we find a solution if this were the case? However, they do believe that the way it is discussed and then integrated into school process will be key – allowing this to infiltrate the school environment unchecked will only fuel the fire that brings about stereotyping and hostility. But the verdict is unanimous – expression is vital and candidness around such topics is a must.
STAT: In a study around diversity, British nationals were asked to rate trust levels and daily interactions with the non-locals. With more diversity came less trust. But with more interactions, the distrust cancelled out. (Oxford University, 2014)
“I think it is important to discuss the topic of terrorism because it has become a major issue. However with discussion it’s important that they do not go into stereotyping people, which may lead to racial abuse. I think this is why the topic is not discussed at school.”
Diversity to me is when I step outside into London and see the range of people from all walks of life living their lives. The problem is reflected in the fact that our media – our magazines – our books and films – do not represent this society that I see.
CRAFTING MISCONCEPTION
While Tribes value diversity and are comfortable with issues and perspectives on life that may have once shocked, avoidance to talk about such issues in the way Tribes want can often have long term and damaging effects, often fuelled by the media. Rather than reflecting this diversity the media continues to craft and shape opinions around topics of low exposure, forming unfair stereotypes in relation to its portrayal of ‘normal.’
To me, radical ideas – are ideas when someone fantasises about something to an extreme. It doesn’t
have to focus on religion. I think people can have radical ideas about anything! However, the way it is
portrayed in the recent media is more with regards to religion and Islam, but I think it’s unfair.
Conflicting visions
A focus on the association of terrorism with Islam, for example, has led to its portrayal as a violent prone religion opposed to the West – a stigmatizing and harmful misrepresentation according to studies showing that such attitudes do not reflect the majority. This focus has meant recently words such as ‘extremism’ and ‘radicalism’ are often unjustly associated with Islam. Tribes however, remain rational in their thinking – defining such terms by virtue of their meaning rather than the medias depiction and acknowledging that this can’t be generalised to one person, religion or culture.
Social conventions
While Tribes often look above and beyond the stereotypes seen in the media, not everyone is immune to its influence and as content spreads fast via social media, this becomes increasingly apparent. Recent social media campaign #Don’tJudgeChallenge started out as an attempt to stamp out body shaming. However, this quickly turned into a darker counter trend with users creating their own parody beauty ‘before and after’ vines consisting of exaggerated and out-dated pre-conceptions of ‘ugly’ and ‘beautiful’ reminiscent of the ‘before and afters’ seen in American classics such a Clueless and The Princess Diaries.
Don’tJudgeChallenge seems to be one of those trends that people feel they have to try for themselves – in the same way as the #IceBucketChallenge. However – rather than spreading awareness of MND – it’s just making fun of having acne or having a mono-brow. It’s just perpetuating the myth that you can’t simultaneously have these things and be beautiful and its just a really horrible trend to be honest.
UNMASKING TRUTH
Despite the damage caused by the media through their biased and inflammatory reports on issues of diversity, Tribes do give credit where it’s due. Media content such as in Orange is the New Black, Empire and Channel 4’s own My Mad Fat Diary are praised for portraying a more realistic and genuine reflection of society, and for bringing topics that were once unfairly depicted, into the ‘mainstream’ with a positive slant to raise awareness.
Getting it right
My Mad Fat Diary’s take on living with a mental health disorder provides a fresh and honest depiction of the illness. The show’s main character suffers with a mental health problem but it’s the other areas her life and personality that serve as the focus of the show; mental health is not her sole-defining feature and by doing this, Tribes feel the series contextualizes the mental health aspect. The issues Rae faces are not solely a product of her illness but issues that most teenagers feel – making her feelings easier to relate to, thus showing how living with mental health is not necessarily extreme or ‘abnormal.’
“The issues in the show do relate to me – although I have never felt I wanted to self-harm – I can understand the turmoil of many of Rae’s decisions. It made me think about mental health issues but if I’m being honest – I am so used to it both in the show and in real life that it has become normal and not shocking – which is a good thing.”
Positive exposure
The recent exposure around transgender identities is another step in the right direction – from Caitlyn Jenner’s decision to go public with her gender to popular Netflix show Orange is the New Back creating a positive transgender idol, Tribes welcome the exposure and applaud the bravery of those who advocate awareness. For Tribes it is really important to lead by example – they celebrate difference and call for the the media to do the same, they want to see divisive, damaging attitudes dissolve so that future generations can continue to progress. And the positive effects of such exposure are beginning to surface, in a recent speech by president Obama he includes ‘transgender’ within a list of minorities who’s persecution is condemned.
Orange is the New Black is the TV show that’s bringing diversity to life. The show focuses on Piper – the white girl – but also delves deep into the lives (albeit fictional) of the black and Hispanic inmates as well… the show has also put Laverne Cox into the spotlight – a trans idol who is beautiful inside and out … it’s a refreshing outlook on life and I hope that more sitcoms follow suit and start to encouraging diversity in TV shows – movies”
This isn’t the new normal… this is just normal.
LIBERAL ACTIVISM
While Tribes acknowledge progression there is still work to be done. Let’s hear some of the idea our Tribes are advocating this month…
#MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS
“I have been proactive within my University to improve people’s attitudes towards Mental Health through education. I created a 10 minute documentary for my dissertation piece – I interviewed a handful of students who all had different experiences with mental health – some whom had suffered from mental health issues in the past and some who haven’t and don’t know anyone who has. In the wake of my film – I have reached the top people in the University and there will now be an annual Mental Health Awareness Week – where the University will be working with mental health charities to help raise awareness and educate students on how to look out for signs of mental health to improve students lives – so that they are not scared to talk about their experience – and can make it a conversation that is as easy to have. For me, in the past the best thing to do was talk about it and be honest with people as it takes that pressure and the anxiety away of thinking people think you’re weird. Having a fullcampaign on social media – TV and print is important. 1 in 4 adults experience some kind of mental health problem every year – we should as a nation be talking about mental health and getting rid of the ridiculous stigma from a period long ago.”
#DIVERSITY IN SPORT
“One of the biggest problems I recognise with diversity in society and the media – that may be more apparent to me than others due to personal circumstances – is gender and sport. I do feel in some ways there have been improvements however – there is still a long way to go! We all know that male sport such as male football and cricket are probably shown on TV every week if not every day. The women’s England football team have just come third and won the bronze medal in the extremely recent Women’s World Cup. The Women’s England team did better than any national side of either gender at a World Cup since 1966. Yet until this win not many people seemed interested in ever watching a female game of football if on TV. Nor did the media seem interested in reporting on them. Since their win however – the women’s team have gained great prominence and media coverage like never before. This will hopefully create an even better future whereby female sport will become on an equal par to male sport and be seen as just as important. “
DEFINE NORMAL
For Tribes this is more than bringing attention to minorities and differences in the mainstream media, it is about changing the way we think about ‘normality’. It’s about rejecting a culture that lives and breathes the term and defeating the current ‘us vs. them’ mentality. With so many varying identities, where no two people are the same to any extent, defining normality becomes an impossible task; it’s a concept that in this day and age is felt to lack substance. For Tribes, ‘normal’ does not classify a common type, there can be no specific attributes aligned with it, to be normal is just to be – whatever that might be.
Be who you are and live the life you want to – it doesn’t matter whether others agree or not, it’s your life and you deserve to be happy
No one is normal! Be who you want to be – not what society says you should be!
