can 2017 be the year of hearies being Good Allies to d/Deaf people?
how to be a good ally to d/Deaf people
- recognize that audism (the oppression of & discrimination against deaf people) is still a very real issue. it can include things like believing that deaf people are “stupid” or “broken” and that deaf people need to be “fixed” (aka made hearing), as well a general lack of awareness about deaf issues, how deaf people communicate, or even that deaf people exist
- recognize the consequences of audism, like deaf children being forced to speak and not being allowed to learn ASL, deaf people being denied jobs (yep, its illegal. still happens), and even deadly police brutality
- reblog/signal boost posts about d/Deaf issues as well as positive posts about d/Deaf accomplishments, information about d/Deaf people, etc
- if you can: learn a little bit of your local sign language! even just fingerspelling and knowing a few basic signs. i especially encourage anyone who works in customer service/retail to learn a little ASL if at all possible! (this is a big thing so i def don’t fault anyone for not doing it, but if you have the time/ability it’s a pretty cool thing to do)
- stop using phrases like “falls on deaf ears”, “deaf to their pleas”, anything that frames deafness in a negative way
- recognize that there are different levels of hearing loss!! hearing people generally categorize hearing as: “not being able to hear perfectly but still hearing” = hard of hearing; “not hearing anything” = deaf; but for deaf people, anyone with any degree of hearing loss is considered deaf! if someone tells you they’re deaf but you know they can talk/sing/play instruments/listen to music, believe them
- theres a lot more honestly but i dont wanna let this get too long!! anyone can feel free to message me about any of this/if u wanna hear more. i’d really appreciate if people (esp. hearing people) could reblog this
Tag: activism
“It’s not real activisim if it’s only online”
Listen, I live a two hour drive away from my province’s only city, almost every protest I have seen happen has happened there. I currently have no job and I don’t own my own car. The internet is the only place I really can do activism. If I lived in the city, I might try to attend protests, but I don’t so I really can’t.
And lots of people have lots of reasons why they might not be able to get involved with irl activism aside from what I mentioned. Disabilities, time, money, maybe they have a job they fear will fire them, maybe they’re in the closet and are afraid they’ll be outed, maybe their family won’t allow it, etc, etc.
There are so many reasons why a person’s activism might be limited to online things. And it’s not as though it makes no difference in “real life” just because it’s on the internet.
Plus, just because they have never mentioned offline work, doesn’t mean they don’t do it. So maybe you should mind your own business.
I’ve done offline work, it’s not magically effective. In person work has a good vibe and has its benefits but honestly it’s sometimes just simply NOT effective. People can get more media attention on an issue by getting a hashtag trending and if people don’t think that is powerful then they aren’t paying attention.
I used to be involved in physically gathering signatures, I couldn’t collect as many in a week as an online petition can gather in an hour. The internet has given people a voice and a platform.
Anyone who tries that “Do real activism” thing is trying to silence you. They have no idea what they are talking about and they don’t care because all they are trying to do is make you go away.
Online activism matters.
ruby-dear archive 