Am I Normal? Why normal people don't exist.

Before the 19th century, the term ’normal’ was rarely ever associated with human appearance or behaviour. Normal was a term used in maths, for right angles. People weren’t normal; triangles were. But from the 1830s, this branch of science really took off across Europe and North America, with a proliferation of IQ tests, sex studies, a census of hallucinations – even a UK beauty map, which concluded the women in Aberdeen were “the most repellent”! This talk tells the surprising history of how the very notion of the 'normal' came about, how it shaped us all, often while entrenching oppressive values. Sarah Chaney looks at why we’re still asking the internet: "Do I have a normal body?" "Is my sex life normal?" "Are my kids normal?" And along the way, she challenges why we ever thought it might be a desirable thing to be. This is the 200-Year Search for Normal People.....and why they don’t exist!

Tickets available here https://www.wegottickets.com/event/590008

Dr Sarah Chaney is a historian & research fellow at the Queen Mary University, Centre for the History of the Emotions. She has previously written about the history of psychiatry and asylums. She spent her teens and 20s furiously rebelling against the mainstream, while secretly longing to be normal. It wasn’t until she passed 30 that she (mostly) stopped worrying about this mythical ideal. Alongside her research work she runs the public exhibitions and events programme at the Royal College of Nursing, occasionally writes for The Conversation and Psychology Today, and reads far too much X-Men fanfic. Her book, Am I Normal? was published in 2022 and will be on sale at the event.

This is our annual Emma Martin Lecture, celebrating the life of one of Bristol's most important and radical writers and campaigners. She was an advocate for women's rights, free-thinking, atheism, opposition to the power of the church and latterly reproductive rights. To find out more about her and visit her former home check out https://www.bristolhumanists.com/general-8