“Toxic Bodies” thoughts: Getting rid of "natural"

In Toxic Bodies, Beth Berila addresses America’s distaste for anything considered “toxic,” “unnatural,” or “impure.” As American citizens, how do we determine the identity of these poisons? Our upbringings, the media, government, and popular culture all inform us those unlike ourselves, those who cannot or will not fit into traditional American categories are “unnatural.” As patriotic Americans, we are taught to push away the “unnatural” at all costs— such people threaten our “natural” conventionality and the American dream. This sentiment is expressed perfectly through former President Bush announcement: “the American way of life is not negotiable.”

Instead of embracing difference, America discriminates against race, cultural background, sexual orientation, religious practices, and physical and mental abilities—these are the anomalies we deem “unnatural.” I am outraged, however, that society not only instructs us to disown certain bodies and beliefs, but also that it can label them “unnatural” at all. It is difficult for me to grasp how anything born or produced of the earth—whether genes, skin colors, defects, or ideologies—can be “unnatural” to begin with. Did not mothers and fathers give birth to homosexuals, people with missing limbs, autistic children, minority religions, and everything else “unnatural” considered toxic to America’s otherwise unadulterated society? Meanwhile, artificial chemicals, genetically-engineered and fake food, grown organs, and cloned animals created in test tubes are embraced as meaningful, and therefore “natural,” elements of America. I cannot imagine a society without some tinge of prejudice. However, I believe that working toward a country more accepting of differences requires ridding ourselves of the notions of “natural” and “unnatural” in relation to people or beliefs. We must remember that Americans come in every shade of color, size, and creed. Nobody is not “unnatural,” we just might not be in the majority.