What does Deafhood mean to YOU?

Boy, talk about assumptions here.
 
TXgolfer said:
Umm....never heard of deafhood until this week.....from what I gather it's from a book I haven't read. So if you don't mind....Shhh I would like to see what the others have to say.
Click to expand...

really? you want to see what others have to say? then why disrupt other thread and joke around? no need to answer this question.
 
Jiro said:
really? you want to see what others have to say? then why disrupt other thread and joke around? no need to answer this question.
Click to expand...

Umm....there wasn't a single joke in this thread.....honest questions. Now if you don't mind.....
 
DeafCaroline said:
The debate about Deafhood on the other thread got me thinking alot.

For some, it means a way of life, for others a journey, yet others self-acceptance and at least one I'm aware of who feels no need to identify himself with Deafhood. We all filter the meaning of Deafhood through the lenses of our own personal life experiences.

For me, Deafhood is about pride.

Old me was apologetic for being deaf: "I'm sorry, can you say that again? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you, I'm sorry, I didn't hear you say that. I'm sorry for bothering you but I need your help with a phone call."

For me, Deafhood means never having to say you're sorry. :)

What does it mean to you?
Click to expand...

missywinks said:
Finding my place on the earth and letting others know!
Click to expand...

posts from hell said:
Being me.
Click to expand...

For me, its all the above. It is being true to yourself and others around you. Not being ashamed and no longer feeling the need to say sorry for who you are; allowing myself to be who God made me to be; recognising your identity, a place you know you belong, where you can stop trying to be someone you are not.
 
TXgolfer -- I'm curious. What do you think of Deafhood and what is your definition of the word?
 
KarissaMann05 said:
TXgolfer -- I'm curious. What do you think of Deafhood and what is your definition of the word?
Click to expand...

Like I said in post 12 I have no idea. I don't remember even seeing the term before this week. I liked DeafCaroline's answer....
 
Deafhood to me is the journey to finally loving myself for who I am instead of trying to be someone I am not and hating myself for it. It has been one of the most positive life-changing experience.
 
Jiro said:
really? you want to see what others have to say? then why disrupt other thread and joke around? no need to answer this question.
Click to expand...

Because some only know how to deal with their own insecurities by making fun of things they know nothing about.
 
TXgolfer said:
Umm....there wasn't a single joke in this thread.....honest questions. Now if you don't mind.....
Click to expand...

I didn't say this thread. I said OTHER thread.

and.. I'm sorry but no you don't get to tell me "Now if you don't mind..." when you disrupt the OTHER thread which is about exactly same thing as this thread.

http://www.alldeaf.com/our-world-our-culture/91087-deafhood-8.html#post1837913
http://www.alldeaf.com/our-world-our-culture/91087-deafhood-8.html#post1837945

now back to business... I've never heard of deafhood either but I've taken a genuine interest in it and read some threads to learn more about it.

"Deafhood" to me is a journey for deaf person to re-discover his/her own identity to accept deafness - culturally and individually. There are other deaf people who feel same. Together, we share a common thing - oppression and discrimination because of our deafness. Some choose to wear CI/HA and some choose not and that's fine. Some choose to talk and some chose to use ASL and that's fine. As long as we accept ourselves as deaf people... we're one big happy group. no more self-denial.

I don't believe it has anything to do with capital D, deaf militant, deaf pride, etc. I don't know what's up with that but I believe it's just some silly fascist-like deaf group quibbling around just as much as deafies who are oralist/audist, obfuscating the true meaning of deafhood.
 
Jiro said:
I didn't say this thread. I said OTHER thread.

and.. I'm sorry but no you don't get to tell me "Now if you don't mind..." when you disrupt the OTHER thread which is about exactly same thing as this thread.

http://www.alldeaf.com/our-world-our-culture/91087-deafhood-8.html#post1837913
http://www.alldeaf.com/our-world-our-culture/91087-deafhood-8.html#post1837945

now back to business... I've never heard of deafhood either but I've taken a genuine interest in it and read some threads to learn more about it.

"Deafhood" to me is a journey for deaf person to re-discover his/her own identity to accept deafness - culturally and individually. There are other deaf people who feel same. Together, we share a common thing - oppression and discrimination because of our deafness. Some choose to wear CI/HA and some choose not and that's fine. Some choose to talk and some chose to use ASL and that's fine. As long as we accept ourselves as deaf people... we're one big happy group. no more self-denial.

I don't believe it has anything to do with capital D, deaf militant, deaf pride, etc. I don't know what's up with that but I believe it's just some silly fascist-like deaf group quibbling around just as much as deafies who are oralist/audist, obfuscating the true meaning of deafhood.
Click to expand...

Ah....the second was a joke responding to Banjo's sarcasm. The first was an honest question to Souggy based on his question but has no place in this thread.

:ty: for your answer...... I like it.
 
"Deafhood to me is the journey to finally loving myself for who I am instead of trying to be someone I am not and hating myself for it. It has been one of the most positive life-changing experience. "

I totally get this. HOHtopics - to answer your question from the other thread, the reason it took me so long to get around to the business of being here, learning ASL, discovering Deaf people and culture is because until about 2 years ago, I wanted to hear. That was all I ever wanted my entire life was to be able to fucking hear. So I could be like everyone else around me because I didn't know a single deaf person growing up. What was so easy for hearing people was unbelievably difficult for me at times. They could just pick up the phone and call people, their boyfriends, their doctors. I couldn't. They could hear lyrics and people talking in other rooms and what their loved ones were saying in the dark of night in the bedroom. I couldn't.

And I so resented being deaf because of that. I thought it was so unjust and I clearly remember after the first day of kindergarten at a mainstream school, praying to God to please let me wake up being able to hear. To finally let me be happy.

I wanted to be able to hear people. I wanted to understand what they were saying. I wanted to know what they were laughing about. I wanted to stop standing on the outside looking in and wishing that it wasn't so goddamn hard to be in their world.

It was a truly fundamental profound yearning to want to be able to hear that it tainted my psyche and my attitude and how I handled everything.

2 years ago, once I made the decision that now is the time that I am going to deal with all of this, now is the time that I am going to get down to the business of learning who am I as a Deaf person, am I alone in feeling what I feel, is it normal to feel so frustrated and angry sometimes? I want to learn that language that I am able to grasp 100%. Right now I only speak one language but I cant hear most of it. I want for once to be able to have a conversation with someone that is not so hard to understand.

I no longer feel that way. I no longer feel this soul-crushing desire to have what I will never be able to have and it feels wonderful. I feel liberated and now I am generally speaking, a much less grumpy person. It's been incredibly gratifying to hear all of your stories and different points of views, even when they clash till fireworks start off. It's like a light is starting to come on inside me and I'm just really grateful.

So, HOHtopics, I hope this answers your question.

Today, I walked into a store and switched for the first time. I signed in public for the first time. Not signing because I was speaking with another Deaf person but signing to a hearing person. And it felt right. For the first time, I am making them meet me halfway. For the first time, I'm not feeling apologetic but equal.
 
DeafCaroline said:
"Deafhood to me is the journey to finally loving myself for who I am instead of trying to be someone I am not and hating myself for it. It has been one of the most positive life-changing experience. "

I totally get this. HOHtopics - to answer your question from the other thread, the reason it took me so long to get around to the business of being here, learning ASL, discovering Deaf people and culture is because until about 2 years ago, I wanted to hear. That was all I ever wanted my entire life was to be able to fucking hear. So I could be like everyone else around me because I didn't know a single deaf person growing up. What was so easy for hearing people was unbelievably difficult for me at times. They could just pick up the phone and call people, their boyfriends, their doctors. I couldn't. They could hear lyrics and people talking in other rooms and what their loved ones were saying in the dark of night in the bedroom. I couldn't.

And I so resented being deaf because of that. I thought it was so unjust and I clearly remember after the first day of kindergarten at a mainstream school, praying to God to please let me wake up being able to hear. To finally let me be happy.

I wanted to be able to hear people. I wanted to understand what they were saying. I wanted to know what they were laughing about. I wanted to stop standing on the outside looking in and wishing that it wasn't so goddamn hard to be in their world.

It was a truly fundamental profound yearning to want to be able to hear that it tainted my psyche and my attitude and how I handled everything.

2 years ago, once I made the decision that now is the time that I am going to deal with all of this, now is the time that I am going to get down to the business of learning who am I as a Deaf person, am I alone in feeling what I feel, is it normal to feel so frustrated and angry sometimes? I want to learn that language that I am able to grasp 100%. Right now I only speak one language but I cant hear most of it. I want for once to be able to have a conversation with someone that is not so hard to understand.

I no longer feel that way. I no longer feel this soul-crushing desire to have what I will never be able to have and it feels wonderful. I feel liberated and now I am generally speaking, a much less grumpy person. It's been incredibly gratifying to hear all of your stories and different points of views, even when they clash till fireworks start off. It's like a light is starting to come on inside me and I'm just really grateful.

So, HOHtopics, I hope this answers your question.

Today, I walked into a store and switched for the first time. I signed in public for the first time. Not signing because I was speaking with another Deaf person but signing to a hearing person. And it felt right. For the first time, I am making them meet me halfway. For the first time, I'm not feeling apologetic but equal.
Click to expand...

I am so very proud of you. You are no longer hiding, but stepping up and saying, "I'm here. Meet me half way."
 
DeafCaroline said:
"Deafhood to me is the journey to finally loving myself for who I am instead of trying to be someone I am not and hating myself for it. It has been one of the most positive life-changing experience. "

I totally get this. HOHtopics - to answer your question from the other thread, the reason it took me so long to get around to the business of being here, learning ASL, discovering Deaf people and culture is because until about 2 years ago, I wanted to hear. That was all I ever wanted my entire life was to be able to fucking hear. So I could be like everyone else around me because I didn't know a single deaf person growing up. What was so easy for hearing people was unbelievably difficult for me at times. They could just pick up the phone and call people, their boyfriends, their doctors. I couldn't. They could hear lyrics and people talking in other rooms and what their loved ones were saying in the dark of night in the bedroom. I couldn't.

And I so resented being deaf because of that. I thought it was so unjust and I clearly remember after the first day of kindergarten at a mainstream school, praying to God to please let me wake up being able to hear. To finally let me be happy.

I wanted to be able to hear people. I wanted to understand what they were saying. I wanted to know what they were laughing about. I wanted to stop standing on the outside looking in and wishing that it wasn't so goddamn hard to be in their world.

It was a truly fundamental profound yearning to want to be able to hear that it tainted my psyche and my attitude and how I handled everything.

2 years ago, once I made the decision that now is the time that I am going to deal with all of this, now is the time that I am going to get down to the business of learning who am I as a Deaf person, am I alone in feeling what I feel, is it normal to feel so frustrated and angry sometimes? I want to learn that language that I am able to grasp 100%. Right now I only speak one language but I cant hear most of it. I want for once to be able to have a conversation with someone that is not so hard to understand.

I no longer feel that way. I no longer feel this soul-crushing desire to have what I will never be able to have and it feels wonderful. I feel liberated and now I am generally speaking, a much less grumpy person. It's been incredibly gratifying to hear all of your stories and different points of views, even when they clash till fireworks start off. It's like a light is starting to come on inside me and I'm just really grateful.

So, HOHtopics, I hope this answers your question.

Today, I walked into a store and switched for the first time. I signed in public for the first time. Not signing because I was speaking with another Deaf person but signing to a hearing person. And it felt right. For the first time, I am making them meet me halfway. For the first time, I'm not feeling apologetic but equal.
Click to expand...

Gosh, your journey and mine are practically identical!!!!!
 
jillio said:
I am so very proud of you. You are no longer hiding, but stepping up and saying, "I'm here. Meet me half way."
Click to expand...

Regarding your "duh earlier. If "Deafhood" is truly an individual experience and not a cultural one, shouldn't we be proud of all people who as individuals chose a path to cope with their deafness. Afterall there are many ways to cope.

I love DeafCaroline's answer.....not because it suits me (it may or may not) but because it suits her. As Jiro said.....

Together, we share a common thing - oppression and discrimination because of our deafness. Some choose to wear CI/HA and some choose not and that's fine. Some choose to talk and some chose to use ASL and that's fine. As long as we accept ourselves as deaf people
Click to expand...

I love that.....that is the way it should be

Would you be just as proud of an individual who chose talking as their path for coping with their deafness? If not wouldn't that be a cultural approach rather than an individual approach?
 
Jiro said:
I didn't say this thread. I said OTHER thread.

and.. I'm sorry but no you don't get to tell me "Now if you don't mind..." when you disrupt the OTHER thread which is about exactly same thing as this thread.

http://www.alldeaf.com/our-world-our-culture/91087-deafhood-8.html#post1837913
http://www.alldeaf.com/our-world-our-culture/91087-deafhood-8.html#post1837945

now back to business... I've never heard of deafhood either but I've taken a genuine interest in it and read some threads to learn more about it.

"Deafhood" to me is a journey for deaf person to re-discover his/her own identity to accept deafness - culturally and individually. There are other deaf people who feel same. Together, we share a common thing - oppression and discrimination because of our deafness. Some choose to wear CI/HA and some choose not and that's fine. Some choose to talk and some chose to use ASL and that's fine. As long as we accept ourselves as deaf people... we're one big happy group. no more self-denial.

I don't believe it has anything to do with capital D, deaf militant, deaf pride, etc. I don't know what's up with that but I believe it's just some silly fascist-like deaf group quibbling around just as much as deafies who are oralist/audist, obfuscating the true meaning of deafhood.
Click to expand...

I am not trying to put Deafhood down , but I call my myself HOH and I once had a doctor say to me " You're not deaf"! My Mass Rehab counselor told the doctor he was sending a deaf woman to see him. The DR. was angry at me for saying I was deaf, and I told him I never said that! So from that day on I call myself HOH! I never heard of Deafhood , but I guess it give a person a sense of pride being apart of a group if they never felt like they belong in a group. I said before I never was part the deaf culture growing up so this is all new to me.
 
TXgolfer said:
Regarding your "duh earlier. If "Deafhood" is truly an individual experience and not a cultural one, shouldn't we be proud of all people who as individuals chose a path to cope with their deafness. Afterall there are many ways to cope.

Uh, no. You are missing the point entirely. Deafhood is regarding the individual effort to incorporate deafness into one's identity and to treat it as a natural part of the whole. It is about embracing the concept that different is not lesser than. It is about rejecting the audist messages one has received all of their life, and saying , "You know what? I am whole and beautiful and capable and deserving just as I am. I do not need to use hearing standards to judge myself."

It is not about being proud of others. It is about being proud of oneself.I love DeafCaroline's answer.....not because it suits me (it may or may not) but because it suits her. As Jiro said.....



I love that.....that is the way it should be

Would you be just as proud of an individual who chose talking as their path for coping with their deafness? If not wouldn't that be a cultural approach rather than an individual approach?
Click to expand...

As I said, it is not about you being proud of anyone, or me being proud of anyone. It is about the individual being proud of themselves, and comfortable in their own skin.
 
whatdidyousay! said:
I am not trying to put Deafhood down , but I call my myself HOH and I once had a doctor say to me " You're not deaf"! My Mass Rehab counselor told the doctor he was sending a deaf woman to see him. The DR. was angry at me for saying I was deaf, and I told him I never said that! So from that day on I call myself HOH! I never heard of Deafhood , but I guess it give a person a sense of pride being apart of a group if they never felt like they belong in a group. I said before I never was part the deaf culture growing up so this is all new to me.
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter what the doctor says you are. It only matters what you feel you are.
 
jillio said:
It doesn't matter what the doctor says you are. It only matters what you feel you are.
Click to expand...

My hearing is worst some days and when I can't wear my HA or my HA is not working I feel deaf! This happen today , my new HA did work right and I could not hear the person I was talking to! I had my new HA send back to be fixed so I am not sure what going with it!!
 
Last edited:
Back
Top