{"id":19727,"date":"2012-08-22T18:44:14","date_gmt":"2012-08-22T23:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=19727"},"modified":"2012-08-22T19:57:45","modified_gmt":"2012-08-23T00:57:45","slug":"deaf-community-outraged-by-dirty-sign-language-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2012\/08\/22\/deaf-community-outraged-by-dirty-sign-language-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Deaf community outraged by dirty sign language book"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deaf Community Outraged by Dirty Sign Language Book<\/strong><\/p>\n

The book “Super Smutty Sign Language” by Kristin Henson has angered and
\ncaused protest amongst many members of the deaf community.<\/p>\n

Author: Cody Permenter
\nPublished: July 1, 2012
\nTwitter: codypermenter<\/p>\n

An online petition has received over 3,600 signatures asking that the
\nbook \u201cSuper Smutty Sign Language\u201d not be printed because many claim
\nthat the book promotes disrespectful attitudes to Deaf culture and
\nAmerican Sign Language (ASL).<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.change.org\/petitions\/st-martin-s-press-do-not-publish-kristin-henson-s-super-smutty-sign-language-book<\/a><\/p>\n

The book is written by Kristin Henson, a self-proclaimed ASL amateur
\nfrom Philadelphia. The book comes after a series of YouTube videos
\nwhere Henson teaches viewers how to sign vulgar phrases, such as, \u201cHow
\nmuch for a blow job?\u201d and \u201cI\u2019ve got 99 problems but a bitch ain\u2019t one.\u201d<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fXo4CfjqN5c&feature=player_embedded&<\/a><\/p>\n

After word got out that St. Martin\u2019s Press would be publishing Henson\u2019s
\nbook, many in the deaf community spoke up online about their
\ndispleasure with Henson\u2019s lack of knowledge of ASL and insensitivity to
\ndeaf culture. Deaf rights activist Tavian Robinson wrote a blog post
\nabout the book and started the online petition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t just about her signing skills. It is about a person
\nexploiting a language and culture that does not belong to her for
\nprofit while demonstrating extreme cultural insensitivity,\u201d Robinson
\nsaid in a comment on his blog.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/truebizme.com\/2012\/06\/28\/action-alert-hearing-person-exploiting-asl-for-profit<\/a><\/p>\n

The petition calls for the book to not be published because of Henson\u2019s
\npoor ASL skills, where many of her signs are incorrect. It also claims
\nthat many of the phrases signed by Henson are sexist, racist, ableist
\nand exploit the native language of deaf people for profit.<\/p>\n

Oscar-winning deaf actress Marlee Matlin even weighed in on the
\ncontroversy through Twitter when she tweeted at Henson, \u201cYour book on
\ndirty signs and YouTube videos are offensive. You shouldn’t purport to
\nknow sign.\u201d<\/p>\n

UT student Lisa Guerra, who is deaf, believes that it is not right for
\nHenson to be profiting from teaching dirty signs and that Henson can be
\nused as a teaching tool for those who are ignorant of Deaf culture and
\nASL.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerican Sign Language deserves better recognition as a meaningful
\nlanguage than being used for poor humor that offends many,\u201d Guerra
\nsaid. \u201cAs a deaf person, I get asked to show dirty signs often, but
\nmaking videos and making a profit from it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Henson sells t-shirts, coffee mugs and bandanas on her website
\nfeaturing \u201cdirty\u201d signs which has also upset some in the deaf community
\nwho see her as trying to turn a profit from their language and culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I’ve learned anything in a new language, I’ve wanted to
\nshare it with people. I want to help other people get excited and
\npassionate about signing, because it’s been so exciting for me to learn
\nit,\u201d Henson said.<\/p>\n

Henson says that she was first introduced to ASL while attending
\nRochester Institute of Technology to pursue her degree. She met several
\ndeaf friends and started picking up bits and pieces of the language,
\nher first signs being dirty words and phrases.<\/p>\n

Addressing the concerns about her sometimes incorrect signing on
\nYouTube videos, Henson says that she is trying to show a hearing
\nperson\u2019s attempt at common English idioms in ASL.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuite a bit of the humor is in the fact that they just don’t
\ntranslate. ASL is a conceptual language, and the sentence structure is
\ncompletely different,\u201d Henson said. \u201cWhen hearing people see that there
\nare ways to say vulgar things in ASL, I think it helps to make [deaf
\npeople] relatable to hearing people, because there’s a common ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henson says that her book is currently in the writing stage so she
\nplans to work with native signers to make sure her grammar is correct.
\nShe has also been taking ASL classes to improve her signing skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t want to oppress, marginalize or belittle an entire culture. I
\ndo want to help spark an interest in ASL and Deaf culture. I want to
\nlearn as much as possible, and help bridge the gap between our worlds,\u201d
\nHenson said.<\/p>\n

Source:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.readthehorn.com\/news\/61173\/deaf_community_outraged_by_dirty_sign_language_book<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[1629,23,14732,505,169,3287,14734,14735,14731,13315,429,14733,3915,14736,14737,2071],"class_list":["post-19727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-american-sign-language","tag-asl","tag-cody-permenter","tag-deaf-community","tag-deaf-culture","tag-deaf-rights","tag-disrespectful","tag-insensitivity","tag-kristin-henson","tag-lisa-guerra","tag-marlee-matlin","tag-online-petition","tag-philadelphia","tag-st-martins-press","tag-tavian-robinson","tag-youtube"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-58b","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25265,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/11\/06\/90-area-deaf-students-find-normalcy-at-lisd\/","url_meta":{"origin":19727,"position":0},"title":"90 area deaf students find normalcy at LISD","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"November 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"90 area deaf students find normalcy at LISD By Cody Permenter Laredo Morning Times Published: Thursday, October 17, 2013 Belen Villarreal stands at the front of her classroom at Cigarroa Middle School, microphone headset on and hands moving with swift motion. \u201cAlright everybody, go get the iPads and do a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26257,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2014\/02\/12\/26257\/","url_meta":{"origin":19727,"position":1},"title":"Deaf chapel presenter to be first in history of UMHB","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"February 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Deaf chapel presenter to be first in history of UMHB February 4, 2014 By Cody Weems The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor will welcome the Rev. 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