Mind the gap: Contesting normal/abnormal constructs of human biology and behaviors

Training in anthropology and evolutionary science ideally prepares scholars to recognize and challenge culturally grounded views of human variation. But upon inspection we find that idealized, and thus perhaps biased, conceptualizations of what is normal continue to permeate evaluations of human biology and behaviors. Each of the 13 contributions in this special issue on biological normalcy tackles these concerns as they pertain to some universal, but also variable, human biological or behavioral phenotype. These papers consider the ways in which the term normal is used in everyday life, in biomedicine, and in scientific studies to characterize some portion of the variability in a human phenotype. The contributors to this special issue, some of whom present original research findings, discuss the ongoing debates and challenges in the study of human biology and behavior, and critically examine how normal is used in their specific research area, thereby exposing and countering biases in the discourse on human phenotypic variation.

Automated summary

Training in anthropology and evolutionary science prepares scholars to recognize and challenge culturally grounded views of human variation. The contributors in this special issue discuss how the term normal is used in characterizing human phenotypic variation.