Within the field of cultural anthropology, Edward B. Tylor (1958) breaks ground in his defining of culture as the “complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” (p. 1). As a linguistic-cultural minority, the American Deaf community has fostered a rich and complex culture sharing not only hearing status, but also language, characteristics, values, customs, and norms. Despite the history of oppression as perpetuated through mainstream hearing culture, self-identifying Deaf and hard-of-hearing people have acquired a legitimate culture in accordance with Tylor’s definition.
As expressed by Mindess (2006), American Sign Language (ASL) has remained the foundation of the tight-knit bond present within the collectivist American Deaf culture. Through the founding of the American School for the Deaf (ASD) in 1817, founders Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, Laurent Clerc, and Mason Cosgwell forged the foundations of the incipient Deaf culture (Van Cleve, 2007). As the inspiration of many American Deaf spaces, the American School for the Deaf gathered individuals with hearing loss into one arena where ASL began to take its originating form. However, language was not the only result of the founding of the American School for the Deaf. From that point forward, the budding Deaf culture laid its roots and allowed for what was once only a physical condition of deafness to become something much more.
Rather than allowing deaf students to learn ASL and discover the cultural nuances found with the Deaf community, a growing population of deaf children were forced to utilize lip reading and speech (Van Cleve, 2007). As Alexander Graham Bell lobbied for oralist deaf education throughout the 20th century, language deprivation grew rampant for deaf children (Padden & Humphries, 2009). This is a continuing issue, as over ninety percent of deaf children are born into hearing families (National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders, 2017). Forcing deaf children to assimilate to mainstream hearing culture continues to be an issue for the Deaf community. This is especially true through the development of technology such as cochlear implants (Padden & Humphries, 2009). In face of the adversities inflicted by the medicalization of deafness, the Deaf community continued in its perseverance as a linguistic and cultural minority. Per the medical perspective, Deaf people are categorized by hearing society as handicapped and needing of remedy. In realizing this one of the most fundamental traits of Deaf culture are found. Rather than forfeiting power to their hearing counterparts, the Deaf community roots itself in the belief of deafness as an identity (and for some even a gift) rather than a disability (Leigh, Andrews, & Harris, 2018; Padden & Humphries, 2009; Mindess, 2006). Marlee Maitlin (2013), Academy-award winning Deaf actress, brings this ideal to life in her role as Melody, a counselor at a Deaf school, in the TV show Switched at Birth. When lecturing a group of Deaf students, her character exclaims “Not hearing loss, only deaf gain.”
In noting the historic depictions of Deaf culture in the media, a vital representation of Deaf culture may be illuminated. In 1988, at Gallaudet University, the premier university for the Deaf, a revolution within the American Deaf Culture formulated. As documented on Gallaudet University’s official website, herds of Deaf people protesting in the streets of Washington, D.C. flooded the news. These protests, a part of the overarching “Deaf President Now” or DPN movement, brought mainstream media attention and a consequent landmark victory for the Deaf community. For the first time, a Deaf president, I. King Jordan, was appointed as the President of Gallaudet University (Gallaudet University). This brings fruition to the phrase blasted by individuals from the Deaf community and marginalized communities alike: “Nothing about us without us!”
As ASL users, the Deaf community also shares in traits in regards to proxemics and kinesics due to the visual nature of sign language. For example, Deaf people are more cognizant of their use of space and face expressions than hearing individuals, as eye contact, visibility, and proper lighting are vital for ASL discourses (Mindess, 2006). Additionally, while hearing people may nonchalantly scroll through their social media feeds while conversing, this is not the case in Deaf culture. Maintaining full attention while signing, regardless of the conversation, remains a cultural norm within the Deaf community (Mindess, 2006). As a unique tradition, self-identifying Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals often plan, execute and participate in social programs and events centered on their shared language, ASL (Leigh, Andrews, & Harris, 2018). These gatherings allow for Deaf spaces to go further than just residential schools, allowing for Deaf, hard-of-hearing and even hearing (CODAs, interpreters, ASL students, etc.) individuals access to acquisition of American Sign Language and Deaf culture. Through the new wave of technology, the existence of Deaf spaces has spread to the internet and social media as Facebook groups such as “ASL THAT!” and “Lifeprint” allow thousands of Deaf and hard-of-hearing people to connect and spread cultural knowledge with even more ease. Overall, it is through the existence and utilization of Deaf spaces that American Deaf Culture is fostered.
It must also be noted that through the medical perspective on deafness, hearing society perpetrates discrimination and prejudice against Deaf people. First coined in 1975 by Tom L. Humphries, professor at the University of California San Diego, audism is defined as “the notion that one is superior based one’s ability to hear or behave in the manner of one who hears.” As dominant hearing majority cultures have remained in positions of power throughout history, the term audism erects as concept which intermingles and combines the singular, repetitive, conscious, and unconscious acts of discrimination against the Deaf community (Ballenger, 2013; Bauman, 2004). The grip of audism extends across the spheres of the diverse Deaf community. Ballenger (2013) identifies one of the largest issues regarding audism as “the oppositional inclination of some hearing individuals determining speaking and listening as the only acceptable method of communication, creating a controversy between proponents of auditory or oral systems and manual communication systems,” (p. 122). With this, you may note the plethora of issues for the Deaf community, including high levels of unemployment, lack of access of sign language interpreters, and an overarching lack of social currency (Leigh, Andrews, & Harris, 2018). While the institution of legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 has brought some progress to the issue of accessibility, there is still a long way to go to fully dismantle societal audism.
As a linguistic and cultural minority, though faced with various implications of oppression for the mainstream majority, The American Deaf community is very much alive in American society. Through the acknowledgment of the history, language, characteristics and beliefs enveloped, preserved, and valued within the Deaf community, society may grow in the awareness of American Deaf Culture.
References
Ballenger, S. (2013). Strategies to avoid audism in adult educational settings. Adult Learning,
24(3), 121-127.
Bauman, H. (2004). Audism: exploring the metaphysics of oppression. Journal of Deaf Studies
and Deaf Education, 9, 239-246.
Gallaudet University. (n.d.). History behind DPN. Retrieved February 28, 2018, from
http://www.gallaudet.edu/about/history-and-traditions/deaf-president-now/the- issues/history-behind-dpn
Leigh, I., Andrews, J. F., & Harris, R. L. (2018). Deaf culture: exploring deaf communities in the
United States. San Diego: Plural Publishing.
Mindess, A. (2006). Reading between the signs: Intercultural communication for sign language
interpreters (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Intercultural Press.
National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders. (2017, December 20). Quick
Statistics About Hearing. Retrieved March 02, 2018, from
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/quick-statistics-hearing#2Padden, C., & Humphries, T. L. (2009). Inside deaf culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press
Humphries, T. (1977). Communicating across cultures (deaf/hearing) and language learning
(Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Union Graduate School, Cincinnati, OH.
Tylor, E. B. (1958). Primitive culture / Edward burnett tylor. New York: Harper.
“Uprising.” Switched at Birth, season 2, episode 9, Freeform, 4 Mar. 2013. Netflix,
https://www.netflix.com/watch/70267424
Van Cleve, J. V. (2007). The deaf history reader. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.
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