Deaf Community Outraged by Dirty Sign Language Book
The book “Super Smutty Sign Language” by Kristin Henson has angered and
caused protest amongst many members of the deaf community.
Author: Cody Permenter
Published: July 1, 2012
Twitter: codypermenter
An online petition has received over 3,600 signatures asking that the
book “Super Smutty Sign Language” not be printed because many claim
that the book promotes disrespectful attitudes to Deaf culture and
American Sign Language (ASL).
The book is written by Kristin Henson, a self-proclaimed ASL amateur
from Philadelphia. The book comes after a series of YouTube videos
where Henson teaches viewers how to sign vulgar phrases, such as, “How
much for a blow job?” and “I’ve got 99 problems but a bitch ain’t one.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXo4CfjqN5c&feature=player_embedded&
After word got out that St. Martin’s Press would be publishing Henson’s
book, many in the deaf community spoke up online about their
displeasure with Henson’s lack of knowledge of ASL and insensitivity to
deaf culture. Deaf rights activist Tavian Robinson wrote a blog post
about the book and started the online petition.
“It isn’t just about her signing skills. It is about a person
exploiting a language and culture that does not belong to her for
profit while demonstrating extreme cultural insensitivity,” Robinson
said in a comment on his blog.
http://truebizme.com/2012/06/28/action-alert-hearing-person-exploiting-asl-for-profit
The petition calls for the book to not be published because of Henson’s
poor ASL skills, where many of her signs are incorrect. It also claims
that many of the phrases signed by Henson are sexist, racist, ableist
and exploit the native language of deaf people for profit.
Oscar-winning deaf actress Marlee Matlin even weighed in on the
controversy through Twitter when she tweeted at Henson, “Your book on
dirty signs and YouTube videos are offensive. You shouldn’t purport to
know sign.”
UT student Lisa Guerra, who is deaf, believes that it is not right for
Henson to be profiting from teaching dirty signs and that Henson can be
used as a teaching tool for those who are ignorant of Deaf culture and
ASL.
“American Sign Language deserves better recognition as a meaningful
language than being used for poor humor that offends many,” Guerra
said. “As a deaf person, I get asked to show dirty signs often, but
making videos and making a profit from it?”
Henson sells t-shirts, coffee mugs and bandanas on her website
featuring “dirty” signs which has also upset some in the deaf community
who see her as trying to turn a profit from their language and culture.
“Every time I’ve learned anything in a new language, I’ve wanted to
share it with people. I want to help other people get excited and
passionate about signing, because it’s been so exciting for me to learn
it,” Henson said.
Henson says that she was first introduced to ASL while attending
Rochester Institute of Technology to pursue her degree. She met several
deaf friends and started picking up bits and pieces of the language,
her first signs being dirty words and phrases.
Addressing the concerns about her sometimes incorrect signing on
YouTube videos, Henson says that she is trying to show a hearing
person’s attempt at common English idioms in ASL.
“Quite a bit of the humor is in the fact that they just don’t
translate. ASL is a conceptual language, and the sentence structure is
completely different,” Henson said. “When hearing people see that there
are ways to say vulgar things in ASL, I think it helps to make [deaf
people] relatable to hearing people, because there’s a common ground.”
Henson says that her book is currently in the writing stage so she
plans to work with native signers to make sure her grammar is correct.
She has also been taking ASL classes to improve her signing skills.
“I don’t want to oppress, marginalize or belittle an entire culture. I
do want to help spark an interest in ASL and Deaf culture. I want to
learn as much as possible, and help bridge the gap between our worlds,”
Henson said.
Source:
http://www.readthehorn.com/news/61173/deaf_community_outraged_by_dirty_sign_language_book
1 comment for “Deaf community outraged by dirty sign language book”