An observation of societal norms

A couple of weeks ago I graduated from university with a 1:1, which is the highest grade you can achieve. And that’s something I’m really proud of! However, this blog post is not about how I achieved my degree nor is it about me telling you how amazing I think I am.

This blog post is about societal norms and where stuttering fits into these norms.

And so, why, if I want to talk about how stuttering fits into societal norms, did I start talking about university? Well, because graduating from university, sadly, has become a societal norm. This means that the mindset is, or for a lot of people, that in order to get a ‘good’ job, you must obtain a ‘good’ education and therefore you go to university. This can cause a lot pressure for young people to go to university, even if they have no interest in what they are doing. It can be the pressure of fitting into the societal norm that causes people to choose a degree in which they have no interest. Because if you don’t fit in, you often stand out.

Othering of Stuttering

Similar to stuttering, if you don’t fit into the societal norm of having fluent speech, you automatically stand out. You are Othered. Othering is a theory that was coined by literary theorist Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and is a method in which some people or groups are defined as not fitting into a social group's norms. It can also affect how people perceive and treat those who are Othered. In the case of stuttering, for example, a child who stutters may be treated differently by their teacher than a child who does not stutter. For instance, when they raise their hand, their teacher may intentionally ignore them or skip over them when reading. And, obviously, this can have a significant impact on a child's self-esteem, as they may believe their voice is unworthy of use because it isn't 'fluent enough.'

Predictability and Stuttering

The idea of predictability can also come into this. The predictability that is associated with societal norms is the expectation that social interactions are going to happen in a certain way. For example, when a person walks into a busy coffee shop the customer expects the barista to be pleasant but formal and quick with them, and the barista expects the customer to know what they want and express it quickly. This predictably can often be harmful for people who stutter because when they enter a busy coffee shop, they know what is expected from them (which is quick and fluent speech) but they can often struggle to deliver to that expectation (because they stutter). This consequently might prevent them from entering the coffee shop for fear of being rejected because their coffee order takes just a little bit longer to say.

Just food for thought

And unlike some of my other blog posts, which have been written to advocate for changes in how people who stutter are represented and treated, this one is not about advocating for change. This blog post is simply an observation about how people who stutter can struggle to fit into societal norms. One that I hope you will continue to think about after reading.

Because…what is normal anyway?