How does Kumashiro define ‘commonsense?’ Why is it so important to pay attention to the ‘commonsense’?
Throughout the article, Kumashario defines commonsense as something that everyone in a particular society is expected to know, and not question because it’s simply, “commonsense”. Since this is the case, commonsense that is never questioned might oppress a certain group of people in a certain society. Commonsense differs where you are in the world, since every society functions differently and has different normalities and traditions. In Nepal, it is commonsense to discipline children in a different manner than what was considered normal to Kumashario. Whereas, in America, it is commonsense to not hit children because to that society, it is considered child abuse.
It is very important to pay attention to commonsense because of the oppression that it may cause. Although commonsense may offer some sort of comfort to understand why we do what we do, it covers up a lot of societal issues at hand. Issues that are cloaked by commonsense because we simply don’t question it, include religious intolerance, economic bias and gender inequity. Since we don’t often question these issues, they go unnoticed in our everyday life, which we consider to be a normality. Paying attention to the commonsense simply has everyone questioning why we do things and to question if it’s in the best interest of every party involved.
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