Tales Of The Deafhood - An Introduction
Spurred on by MM’s negative review and gross misunderstanding of Paddy Ladd’s Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search Of Deafhood, and the positive press and vibrant discussion of Deafhood in blogs, forums, and email groups, I just had to buy my own copy. So, I did. I could have read the online version over at Google Books, but I’m old fashioned in that I love to hold a REAL book in my hands. Besides, these eyes of mine are getting on a bit and reading from the computer screen strains them. Hence, a real book made of paper, finds happiness in my hands [and vice versa].
This post is the first of what I hope will be a continuing dialogue about deafhood, deaf culture and self realisation inspired by Paddy’s [and other similar] book [s]. As well as sticking the boot in any dismissal of Deaf Culture and Sign Language as valid and right, this series will be a refutation of MM’s negative review and his [and other like minded people] wanton disregard for the hard work that Paddy and other people put into showing there is nothing wrong with being Deaf. After all, their hard work results in maps and guides that help us [ALL, including the snotty little oralie who prides themselves on speaking well and not doing much else] along the rocky path towards salvation and redemption.
But first, dear reader, a short diversion.
We all know that “life is difficult, and that personal growth is a complex, arduous and lifelong task”. Living one’s life is a herculean task that never stops until you draw your last breath. And at 46 years of age, my own journey towards self empowerment, self realisation, self actualisation, and ultimately finding my place in the world [grand scheme of things] continues unabated.
I walk the road less travelled because I have no other choice. My deafness and my sexuality, force me to eschew the pleasant diversions of the manicured curb or the speed of the open highway, in favour of a meandering and a wandering path that leads to, “God knows where, but I’ll know when I get there!” My hunger for knowledge, understanding and meaning, lead me to reject the received wisdom, which often leads to an oppression and a suppression of all that is good in life. More than this, my spirit and my body are in open revolt to the idea of entrusting my very being [health and happiness, salvation and redemption] into the hands of my benevolent benefactors who assume they know what’s best for me,
The road less travelled is a road that few ever travel. It requires that an honesty and level of introspection, that few willingly submit to. It requires that we have an open conversation with ourselves, and the courage to forge an alternative path, should the one you are travelling on, lead us astray. It requires that we ask questions and demand answers. It requires that we lay down a challenge to the dominant forces that attempt to determine the course of our lives. The road less travelled is not a highway, where speed will get you to your destination and back before sundown. There are no maps and very few sign posts to guide us as we travel along this road, and at night, no there are no lamp posts to light the way. The road less travelled is full of potholes and unexpected turns, and it never returns to the same point that you started from.
If you have read the books, The Road Less Travelled, Owning Your Own Shadow, or even Zen Guitar, [even though Zen Guitar is about playing the guitar and, why you play it, ultimately, it's about motivation and fulfillment, and not technique. Lessons which we can take and apply to living] will understand this very well.
I am midway through Chapter One: Deaf Communities, having read the Introduction, and already waves of recognition and nods of agreement permeate my reading. The last time a book on Deafness got me this all shook up, was Harlan Lane’s, The Mask Of Benevolence. Already, I have many questions, but they will have to wait until I have delved further into the book. Already, there is much misunderstanding and ignorance of what this book is about and what Paddy is trying to achieve, but this misunderstanding and ignorance will only be cleared up if we are willing to move beyond the idea that we must align ourselves with, and measure our worth as a people against our Hearing forebears.
The scope of Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search Of Deafhood is huge. The task that Paddy has set himself, is an ongoing one. A task that we are all invited to contribute to. And I hope, you, dear readers, will come along for the ride.
Reading Matter In The Meantime:
Understanding Deaf Culture
Culture Versus Awareness: Refuting MM
Deaf Versus Deaf Refuting Carl
Awareness Versus Culture
The Deafhood Review
Deafhood:A Process Of Self Repression
The Secret Order of Deaf Militants
Elsewhere In The City:
HFEB: BDA draft letter to Professor Marcus Pembrey
HFEB: Explanatory clause on deaf selection
Parliament: Deaf Embryo selection to be made illegal
Paddy Ladd email: UK bill to outlaw embryos with the Deaf gene.
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November 29th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
I look forward to your “journey” through that book. For me, it’s been a huge eye-opener despite my growing up in the Deaf community, lecturing on ASL, writing a curriculum for teaching ASL, teaching Deaf culture…. it pushed me beyond my old thinking (which had many questions), and helped me to see the bigger picture and to reach for a better vision of the global Deaf community. One important thing was grasping the huge important difference between “deafness” and “Deafhood” and distinguishing between the two frameworks when doing activism/advocacy work for Deaf people.
November 30th, 2007 at 7:52 am
Hi, it’s good to see more and more people reading Dr. Ladd’s book. I studied under him and think it’s great to get more perspectives on his work. He is a pioneer in a relatively new field and the addition of new thought can only serve to shape and define it.
Here’s some of my own thoughts on the subject, on a now-dysfunctional blog: http://surdus.blogspot.com/2006/09/343-what-is-deafhood-original.html
You may or may not agree with my perspective, but I offer them as thanks or sharing your own viewpoint.
November 30th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Joseph, you raise some qood points in your blog post. This post is the first of many that I hope to write that uses Paddy’s book as a springboard for further dialogue, and to write about my own process. A process that is not often written or recorded by Deaf or hard of hearing people.
December 1st, 2007 at 7:11 am
Joseph -
Thank you for a well-written article on Deafhood. I especially appreciated the point you made in reference to Deafhood not being a static model, but a dynamic one.
You also stated:
“This dialogue is the key to finding Deafhood. Not rigidity. Not being stuck in your own idea of what it means to be a Deaf person, because you can never be sure whether that idea is 100% of the truth. Artists know this: that’s why they push boundaries. It’s the reason I have this blog: almost every post here, in some way or another, concerns my quest to retain my Deafhood while living my life.”
That is why I have a blog. And it’s also partly why I wrote my article, “Deafhood: A Cycle of Self-Repression.”
Thank you, Joseph, again for a great perspective and one that I found myself nodding in agreement with. I love the idea of Deafhood and appreciate Ladd’s efforts, even if I disagree with some of his statements.
:o)
Paotie
December 1st, 2007 at 10:40 am
Excellent….I’ve been waiting for someone to grasp the nettle and give a summarised blow by blow, chapter by chapter, account of Paddy’s book. Academic reading never is my forte.
As for MM’s diatribe, this is a man who is living paradoxically.
December 1st, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Tony, I’m not gonna quite, do a blow by blow, chapter by chapter, treatment of Paddy’s book. I’m using it as a springboard to talk about the process that a person may go through, on the path to “Deafhood”, using my life as an example.
But, I will try to do the series follwoing the chpaters that Paddy laid out.. with some additional perspectives of my own.
Let’s see what transpires eh?
December 1st, 2007 at 6:54 pm
No worries, mate. I did say a summarised version - not too detailed and drawn out. Anyway, its your journey and I am still delighted you intend to share it with us.
December 4th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
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December 5th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
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January 22nd, 2008 at 9:59 pm
This is somewhat tangental, but…
Most things about the Internet are great, with two exceptions: 1) there is no control over how it is misused, i.e. spammed, 2) it is too easy to change history due to its impermanence.
I am brought to make this statement by the fact that MM has pulled his blog (and only a tiny fraction of it is in the waybackmachine). Whatever the reasons, I am apt to interpret this to mean that MM is ashamed and embarrassed by his words… whatever they were. What other reason is there for someone to pull a blog?