The End of Normal: Identity in a Biocultural Era

About this book

In an era when human lives are increasingly measured and weighed in relation to the medical and scientific notions of what is normal have changed drastically. While it is no longer useful to think of a persons particular race gender sexual orientation or choice as normal the concept continues to haunt us in other ways. In The End of Normal Lennard J. Davis explores changing perceptions of body and mind in social cultural and political life as the twenty-first century unfolds. The books provocative essays mine the worlds of advertising film literature and the visual arts as they consider issues of disability depression physician-assisted suicide medical diagnosis transgender and other identities. Using contemporary discussions of biopower and biopolitics Davis focuses on social and cultural productionparticularly on issues around the different body and mind. The End of Normal seeks an analysis that works comfortably in the intersection between science medicine technology and culture and will appeal to those interested in cultural studies bodily practices disability science and medical studies feminist materialism psychiatry and psychology.