Hearing Loss Buttons

I've been thinking about getting a shirt or a big sign that says that I'm deaf. I'm planning on riding my bike to work and I was thinking that that would be helpful in the biking trails where they all ASSUME I ignored their "On the left, ON THE LEFT!"[/B
The thing is that I like to dress up and also like artsy stuff. I think that idea with DEAF in sign language is cool. But other than that, still looking for that cool pin or shirt
 
I don't think that a button would help me in my interactions with the general public. When I tell a retail employee, the employee just stares at me like I'm crazy. _
 
I don't think that a button would help me in my interactions with the general public. When I tell a retail employee, the employee just stares at me like I'm crazy. _

:giggle: Why not get a button that says that?

Then when they ask "really"?, you can tell them no, but you are deaf.
 
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I think the difference is, the Jews were forced by the government to wear the yellow stars. The "Deaf" buttons are totally voluntary.

What happened to the "Deaf Pride" movement?

I am Jewish and I really do not like people saying " Jews" , as it is used as an insult , the only time a person call me a 'Jew' is to insult me. I never heard this used any other way than an insult.
 
I am Jewish and I really do not like people saying " Jews" , as it is used as an insult , the only time a person call me a 'Jew' is to insult me. I never heard this used any other way than an insult.

Jews is used to described a person who is Jewish. there's nothing offensive about it. However, if one were to say "He tried to Jew me out of the deal" - then yeah, it is.

It's the context in which the word was used that be offensive, not the word itself.
 
I think that we should let minority groups determine their own identity and preferred name. Whatdidyousay is Jewish and she says that it's offensive, so that's good enough for me. I believe her when she says that she has suffered discrimination associated with this name. I won't use this term.
 
I think that we should let minority groups determine their own identity and preferred name. Whatdidyousay is Jewish and she says that it's offensive, so that's good enough for me. I believe her when she says that she has suffered discrimination associated with this name. I won't use this term.

I wouldn't use it with her if she finds it offensive. Of course not.

For sake of argument:

There was a time once when I was offended to be called "deaf" because it was often said to me with the intent to hurt. Does that mean it's an offensive slur? Yes, it does mean that because it's all based on the context in which the word was used. But the word "deaf" itself is used to describe a person with a hearing loss just like "Jew' is used to describe a person of either Jewish descent or one who practices the Jewish faith.
 
FWIW, I'm a Jew and I use the word Jew. I also use the word Jewish.

If I remembered, I would try to remember to call Whatdidyousay! Jewish and not a Jew simply because I try to avoid calling people whatever they don't want to be called.

But I don't agree with you, Whatdidyousay. Also, I kind of resent it when people give credence in any way shape or form that "Jew" is a bad word. It's not.

I participated in a discussion about this at another forum and some interesting observations came up:

* Most other names for other religions are multisyllable
* Most bad words are one syllable
* There have been serious problems between Jewish people and other religions and governments, mostly because it hasn't been healthy to be a minority in most places in the past -- and Jewish people have been minorities in many places yet chosen not to assimilate. The propaganda has left lingering effects for some people.

* Many names for other religions are both nouns and adjectives, e.g.:
** Christian
** Muslim
** Hindu

* Jewish/Jew is unique in that there is a distinctive adjective and distinctive noun form of the word. In the English language I think people usually use an adjective to go along with a pronoun as in:
I'm Jewish.
She's Jewish.

When they do that with other religions it's not as clear if they are using the noun or adjective. For example:

He's Christian.
He's a Christian.

My guess is that in the first sentence Christian is being used as an adjective and in the second sentence as a noun. I believe that most people would opt to say (if it came up), "He's Christian" and "She's Jewish" using the adjective form in both cases but its not as clear that this is what is being done with the words Christian, Muslim and Hindu.

So, that may partially explain why sometimes some people get confused -- but so what -- Jew is still a fine word and I'm proud to claim it.
 
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I agree. My son is retarded. But if you were to refer to him a "retard", I'd likely pummel you. People use the word "retarded" in a derogatory fashion; but it doesn't get to me quite as much. You can mask his condition by saying "mentally impaired or disabled" - but in the end it all comes down to the same thing. It doesn't change who he is, and I have no problems with the term myself.
 
Offensive words can also be embraced by a culture, For example im italian and when the italians first came to australia the aussies called them wogs, its primary purpose was to insult them, but over time we came to embrace the term and now i couldnt care if i was called a wog.
 
I think that we should let minority groups determine their own identity and preferred name. Whatdidyousay is Jewish and she says that it's offensive, so that's good enough for me. I believe her when she says that she has suffered discrimination associated with this name. I won't use this term.

Thank you Sallylou!
 
Jews is used to described a person who is Jewish. there's nothing offensive about it. However, if one were to say "He tried to Jew me out of the deal" - then yeah, it is.

It's the context in which the word was used that be offensive, not the word itself.

The ONLY I time I heard the word 'Jew' used by a person not Jewish is as an insult !"I Jew them down!" I heard this said many time by people who are not
Jewish! Are you Jewish??
 
People in a minority group can choose to use a term used described themselves to reclaim the word. That's fine when a person chooses to do that. That doesn't mean that people outside that culture should call a person the traditionally offensive term. That's not reclaiming.

Irony and parody only work when a minority group makes fun of a dominant group. When a majority group person makes fun of a minority group, it's just being an asshole.
 
The ONLY I time I heard the word 'Jew' used by a person not Jewish is as an insult !"I Jew them down!" I heard this said many time by people who are not
Jewish! Are you Jewish??


No I'm not. but my cousins are. One of my sisters is married to a Jewish man and my first long term boyfriend was also Jewish. And I live in a predominantly hasidic neighbourhood. And even they would use the word Jews to describe themselves or others.

Again, it's how the word is used that can be deemed offensive or not.
 
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Gifts-Jews-Changed-Everyone-History/dp/0385482493/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320036016&sr=1-7"]The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels[/ame] by Thomas Cahill

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Jews-Christians-Muslims-Introduction-Monotheistic/dp/0205018254/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320036016&sr=1-10"]Jews, Christians, Muslims: A Comparative Introduction to Monotheistic Religions (2nd Edition)[/ame] by
John Corrigan, Martin S. Jaffee, Frederick Mathewson Denny , and Carlos Eire

Whatdidyousay, I just choose two book titles at random from Amazon after I put in a search for "Jew". Jew is just a word that means Jew. That's it. If you won't believe your fellow ADer's, maybe seeing how authors use the word will convince you.

I'm sorry that you ran into mean people, but really, you are giving them way too much power!

In case you missed my last post -- I am a Jew.
 
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