Deaf Culture As A Subculture

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ASL CLUB A subculture full of smiles and energy, the ASL club is a group with a vision of breaking barriers between Deaf people and Hearing people. Just like any other culture, Deaf culture has its own language, beliefs and traditions. However, though they are often misunderstood and seen as an inferior group, the Deaf culture displays and creates its pride through its art also known as De’VIA, its language ASL and its tight knitted community. Stepping into a room filled with both students who were deaf and others who were not, I was instantly met with smiles and hugs. While most people sat cross legged in a circle on the floor, the warm and amiable atmosphere imitated how Deaf culture is founded on a collective mindset and not on a separated …show more content…

The form of Resistive art generally aims to capture the injustice and suppression of Deaf people. An example of Resistive art is a piece titled “Sign Language Art”, created by the artist Kaleidoscope. This artwork shows two hands facing the opposite direction- one with a head protruding out of the left hand and an ear sticking out of the other. Though the hand with the face is shouting, the position of the ear is turned away from the face. While the shouting face represents Deaf individuals and the ear symbolizes the outer community, this picture is used to show the neglect and separation between the Hearing and Deaf community, as one strives to reach out to the other. On the other hand, Affirmative De’VIA uses more warm and light hearted elements in its art. It is used to project ideas like Deaf empowerment, acceptance and independence. Through De’VIA art, one notices that the stark difference between the Deaf and Hearing culture is not whether one can hear or not, but rather it is what each party chooses “hear” and respond to. After looking at this picture, I remember the constant blinking and blank looks on one student as he interacted with a Deaf student. I found it ironic that the Deaf student had more of the skill of “listening” to a conversation compared to the Hearing

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