There are some interesting similarities between the Deaf and Gay communities. They both share the same important characteristic and that makes them a minority that is not passed down through families like other minorities. Members of the Deaf and Gay communities tend to lack structure and common ground as minority groups supported by families and communities. Both groups have struggled for civil rights and have had similar paths as the communities fought to develop their own history, culture, and mobilize their individual populations (Healy). Both the Deaf and Gay communities have their own obstacles and stigmas, and the people in the middle of the two groups, like being deaf or gay, inherited the challenges of both communities. These two communties had to fight against almost the same social stigmas. The stigmas were based on intolerance and ignorance. Deafness was and still continues to be seen as a disability (even thought I strongly disagree) people assumed that deaf …show more content…
Before the Deaf community decided to advocate for rights, gay people had to hide in the Deaf community as non-deaf gays did in the hearing community. In the 1980’s they had to conceal their sexual identity from the straight Deaf and hard of hearing community. There was a set a sogns created by gay and lesbian men and women and used only by the Deaf Gay community (Harper). Just recently the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Board of Directors finally decided to support gay marriage. It was once commonly believed that two Deaf adults should not be allowed to marry and become parents based on the fact they cannot hear. With the history of marriage inequality led the Deaf community to support the fight for same sex marriage (Polaski 2012). While there is still progress to be made, the Deaf and Gay communities are now political allies and
In the following chapters, there is an extensive amount of knowledge to learn about how Deaf culture is involved in our modern world. The pages assigned give us an outlook of how Deaf people are treated in our daily life, and how we should learn from it. Its gives a clear line between what are myths and what are facts, to those who are curious about the Deaf community or have specific questions. This book has definitely taught me new things that I could put to good use in the near future. In specific chapters, my mind really opened up to new ideas and made me think hard about questions, like “why don’t some Deaf people trust hearing people,” or “do we need another ‘Deaf president now’ revolution?” I realized many new things in the course of reading this book, and have recommended this to my family.
Marika Kovac-Houlihan’s TED Talk hurt me. Hearing her stories first hand truly reveals the discrimination Deaf people face. It’s an easy to listen and understand the definition of discrimination but to experience it or witness is different. Kovac-Houlihan’s intention was for the audience to be stunned by her experiences, I imagine most of those people feel the same way I currently do. Her understanding was that most hearing people see Deaf people as disable or inferior, not every hearing person thinks that way, but most do. Kovac-Houlihan believes hearing people’s assumption is “that a deaf person may be isolated, uneducated or without language” (2:29 Kovac-Houlihan). I slightly disagree with her, but there are exceptions to every rule, one individual does not always impact the thoughts of the mob. I choose this video because of my reaction to Kovac-Houlihan’s primary discussion topics: the phonocentric ideology, loss of identity, and the divide between hearing and Deaf
Padden, Carol and Humphries, Tom (1988). Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Robert DeMayo is a Deaf actor, educator and ASL consultant. He was born in Connecticut but currently lives in Philadelphia. DeMayo grew up in a hearing family. It was hard for him growing up in a hearing family. He often felt like he was being left out by his family, who never bothered to learn ASL so that they could better communicate with him. This being the case DeMayo decided to leave his home since his family seemed like they did not care about how he felt being Deaf when the rest of his family could hear. DeMayo often struggles to make ends meat. Being a Deaf actor makes it even harder to find work while trying to pursue his dream. According to DeMayo there are not many jobs for Deaf actors that have flexible enough hours for him to also be an actor. He often had to take short term jobs like translating for other actors or musicians as they sang and performed. These jobs did not provide enough income and because he could not make enough money to support himself he eventually became homeless until one of his friends let him stay with them until he got back on his feet. These are just a few of the struggles DeMayo faced being a Deaf actor, TL Forsberg also faced many struggles as a hard of hearing singer.
Many people never realize or take much notice on what deaf people go through in life, but by watching the movie "Love is Never Silent", hearing people are able to have a clear view of what it is like to be deaf in the hearing world. Many different perspectives towards how deaf people live, socialize, party or work are built by many distinctive types of people. As the movie "Love is Never Silent" shows, Margaret and her family are isolated from their community. They aren 't allowed to sign in front of the hearing because it 's strange and abnormal. Seeing a deaf person sign during a time where being different can make a person look like an outcast makes hearing people pity the deaf and end up treating them as ignorant people. Although deaf
In the autobiography Deaf Again, Mark Drolsbaugh writes about his life being born hearing, growing up hard of hearing, to eventually becoming deaf. By writing this book, he helps many people view from his perspective on what it is like for someone to struggle trying to fit in the hearing society. Through his early years, his eyes were closed to the deaf world, being only taught how to live in a hearing world. Not only does the book cover his personal involvement, but it covers some important moments in deaf history. It really is eye-opening because instead of just learning about deaf culture and deaf history, someone who lived through it is actually explaining their experiences.
After viewing the movie, “Signs of Respect,” I could recall some of my first-hand experiences in Deaf Culture. It doesn’t matter whether a person has grown up in Deaf Culture, or just beginning to learn about it, if they are from the hearing population, they must decipher between the hearing population and Deaf Culture in order to maintain respectful relationships with the two. While I was growing up, I found that most hearing people have trouble respecting Deaf Culture because they lack common knowledge of the “change in culture.” Consistently, I have found this to be the issue as Deaf Culture is not being taught in the public-school setting like other cultures. In an uneducated, hearing person’s eyes, a “deaf” person should speak and understand things as they would. Even though both cultures technically live in America and speak American languages, it is most important to understand that they are entirely different.
The documentary of “Through Deaf Eyes” has open my eyes to the deaf culture. The movie has made it “click” that deaf people are just that people and individuals like me. Deaf community has its struggles just like everyone else. They struggle with growing into who they are as a person, harmful situations, and feeling a sense of belonging. They just speak a different language like Italians and Hispanics. Communicating with a different language does not make them lesser than a hearing person. When able to learn to communicate, the deaf are able to learn and gain knowledge just like a hearing person. The only difference is they have to learn more and work harder to achieve their goals and gain knowledge, which a hearing person learns just by hearing their surroundings.
What I found most interesting about Jarashow’s presentation were the two opposing views: Deaf culture versus medical professionals. Within the Deaf culture, they want to preserve their language and identity. The Deaf community wants to flourish and grow and do not view being deaf as a disability or being wrong. Jarashow stated that the medical field labels Deaf people as having a handicap or being disabled because they cannot hear. Those who are Deaf feel as though medical professionals are trying to eliminate them and relate it to eugenics. It is perceived that those in that field are trying to fix those who are Deaf and eliminate them by making them conform to a hearing world. Those within the Deaf community seem to be unhappy with devices such
The acceptance of “abnormal” sexualities has been a prolonged, controversial battle. The segregation is excruciating and the prejudice remarks are so spiteful that some people never truly recover. Homosexuals have been left suffering for ages. Life, for most homosexuals during the first half of the twentieth century, was mostly one of hiding: having to constantly hide their true feelings and tastes. Instead of restaurants and movies, they had to sit quiet in the dark and meet each other in concealed places such as bars. Homosexuals were those with “mental and psychic abnormalities” and were the victim of medical prejudice, police harassment, and church condemnation (Jagose 24). The minuscule mention or assumption of one’s homosexuality could easily lead to the loss of family, livelihood, and sometimes even their lives. It was only after the Stonewall riots and the organization of gay/lesbian groups that times for homosexuals started to look brighter.
While reading Mark Drolsbaugh’s Deaf Again where he wrote about his experiences with becoming postlingually deaf, I realized that I was able to relate to some of the situations he encountered, especially when he spoke of his frustrating childhood due to his disability. As he grew older, he needed to find new ways to cope with and accept his deafness. Because of his unique viewpoint with deaf parents who were not allowed to sign around him, the book gave readers a different perspective to look at deafness with. Drolsbaugh’s personal account of his life was inspirational as he grew up with a truly exceptional situation, yet was able to overcome his obstacles and become successful after he quit denying who he really was.
Deaf and hearing impaired individuals are know longer an out cast group. They now have there own deaf community. Deaf individuals do not consider themselves having an impairment, handicap, or any type of disability. They believe that through the use of sign language, other communication skills, and technology that there deafness is the way they are supposed to be. Many people who have perfect hearing can not understand deaf people and why they embrace there deafness instead of trying to receive hearing and get rid of there handicap. However not all deaf people have th...
In the book Seeing Voices, the author describes the world of the deaf, which he explores with extreme passion. The book begins with the history of deaf people in the United States of America, the horrible ways in which they had been seen and treated, and their continuing struggle to gain hospitality in the hearing world. Seeing Voices also examines the visual language of the deaf, sign language, which is as expressive and as rich as any spoken language. This book covers a variety of topics in deaf studies, which includes sign language, the neurology of deafness, the treatment of Deaf American citizens in history, and the linguistic and social challenges that the deaf community face. In this book, Oliver Sacks does not view the deaf as people having a condition that can be treated, instead he sees the deaf more like a racial group. This book is divided into three parts. In the first part, Oliver Sacks states a strong case for sign language, saying it is in fact a complete language and that it is as comprehensive as English, French, Chinese, and any other spoken language. He also describes the unhappy story of oralism (this is the education of deaf students through oral language by using lip reading, speech, and mimicking the mouth shapes and breathing patterns of speech)) in deaf children’s education. In addition, the first part is about the history of deaf people as well as information about deafness. It also includes the author’s own introduction to the world of the deaf.
Provided with the viewpoints on both the medical model and social model of disability, it is clear that these two concepts differ in terms of the definition of disability as well as the attitude of society towards people with disabilities. It is evident that people with disabilities veer towards the social model rather than the medical model. It is essential to acknowledge that Deafness is categorised as a medical disability within the individual as well as a societal disability, as society is not equipped enough to deal with the communication barriers that stem from hearing impairments.
The treatment of the LGBT community in American Society is a social injustice. What most people think is that they just want to be able to marry one another and be happy but that’s not it. They want to be treated like humans and not some weird creatures that no one has ever seen before. They want to be accepted for who them are and not what people want them to be and they deserve the right to be who they are just the same as any other human being. After all the discrimination they have endured they should be allowed to be who they are and be accepted as equals just like people of different skin color did in the times of segregation. We have a long way to go as a country but being the greatest country in the world in the eyes of many great America will make big steps to make things fair.