Response to "In My Language"

I found the video "In My Language" to be particularly powerful to watch. As I watched the the video, I found myself thinking about "normal" ways of communicating and interacting with the world and how these ideas of "normal" get constructed. Going back to last week's reading on "normalcy," I began to think about how we don't have to live in a world where communication styles that are different than the norm are considered to be purposeless, wrong, or not human. I began to wonder how we can change the mindset of the world to stop viewing everything through the lens of normal as good and deviant as bad, and to accept every variation as beautiful and worthwhile. 

Baggs' video helped me to question the norm and to appreciate other forms of interacting as beautiful. Baggs says in her video, "Far from being purposeless, the way that I move is an ongoing response to what is around me." revealing to viewers that the way she moves and interacts is just her way of existing and responding to the world. As I watched the first half of the video, which simply documents various interactions, I found myself appreciating her unique form of communication. At the end of the video, we see the words "dedicated to all other people who wrongly view our actions as purposeless." At first I found it surprising that she dedicated the video to people who don't accept her way of interacting, but then I realized that these are the people who most need to watch this video if we want to change our mindset surrounding norms. Baggs specifically chooses these people as the target of the video in order to teach them that her life is beautiful, worth living and human just as much as anyone else's. I wonder what other ways there are to continue to challenge our concept of "normalcy" and all the stigma that comes with it.