[Previous entry: "Ad blocker update."] [Main Index] [Next entry: "The Ghost City of Cyprus."]
02/15/2007 Entry: "Sorry, You Cannot Give Yourself A Sign Name."
Sorry, You Cannot Give Yourself A Sign Name. How interesting. Its almost cultish. It seems if you are deaf person and want an easy to sign nickname, only the deaf community can give you one. You cant give yourself one nor can immediate family give you one.
Replies: 4 comments
Oh bullshit. Why wouldn't you be able to give yourself a "sign name"? What--is there someone in the deaf community keeping track of all of these? Pffffff. Hey, how about we decide that deaf people can't give themselves a nickname--only people of hearing can do that?
Posted by x @ 03/24/2007 06:12 PM CST
I worked with the deaf for many years, and I understand this phenomenon. While I have known nicknames to be assigned to someone by all-deaf families, it is the hearing who need to have nicknames or sign names bestowed upon them. This only happens after you become well known enough that they speak of you often enough to not to want to bother to keep fingerspelling your name. They are not 'cultish' they are cut off from the world at large in many ways. There are two sides to this coin. If you are English speaking, and want a chinese name, you must be given one by a chinese mentor. What's the difference?
Posted by Mary H. @ 06/24/2007 05:17 PM CST
Mary's got it. It's not as if there's somebody somewhere keeping track of sign names (and, honestly, I am surprised at the hostility in the first comment here...). It's common courtesy to let a deaf person give you a sign name rather than making one for yourself. There are two good reasons for this:
1. There is a history of oppression of deaf culture by hearing people. Because of this, the deaf may well resent a hearing person (even a well-intentioned hearing person) who tries to "force" themselves into the culture. Like Mary said, it's polite to wait until someone gives you a nickname.
2. Hearing people (even those who know sign) can accidentally make up embarrassing or inappropriate sign names for themselves. Think of a muscular foreigner whose name is Richard, and who can't understand why people laugh when he insists people call him "Big D*ck." It *seems* like a good name to him, but it's got connotations that he wouldn't understand. The same is true of sign - you may not know what you're saying by trying to give yourself a sign name.
Posted by Zeb @ 10/11/2007 11:22 PM CST
I'm deaf and have been since birth, graduated from a deaf residential school and went to Gallaudet University.
That said, all I've got to say now is, if you want to give yourself a sign name, by all means do. Just disregard all the militant deaf people out there and if one approaches you regarding your sign name, just tell them to mind their own business.
If you want to get really nasty with them, ask them how they speak their name and when they speak something totally unintelligible, ask them which honored member of the hearing community gave them that name.
Many deaf people expect equal access to the hearing world, yet they deny hearing people equal access to the deaf world. Hypocrites!
Time to tear down that little clubhouse with a sign reading "Deaf Only".
LocoMojo
Posted by LocoMojo @ 12/23/2007 10:00 AM CST
Add A New Comment
