My Identity: Misunderstood
Banjo, who I have featured and linked before, has an articulate, clear-headed take on his Deaf identity and why he sticks to it despite ‘common sense’.
Read on…I don’t expect everybody to understand why some of us choose to remain deaf. We are given choices, and we made them. I’ve already adapted to being a deaf person, and I don’t plan on changing that. If there’s a pill that cures deafness, I would be hesitant to take it because I’ve already been deaf my whole life. To think of not being deaf is just hard for me to imagine. It is a life-changing experience and it may radically change my personality and my identity.
There is a movie that makes a good example of what I’m saying here, it’s called ‘At First Sight’ starring Val Klimer. He portrays a blind man who is operated on to have his eyesight restored. Later into the movie, he begins to resent his ability to see and went back to being blind as a comfort. Mainly, because blindness is what he identifies with. Just like I identify myself with deafness.
P/s: Do read the comments following his blog post too. Interesting discussion going on.
Thanks Prince.
Banjo appears to be one of those privileged deaf who do not belong to the majority of deaf whom he described as having a poor command of language and/or unemployed. He has no reason to want any change because he’s comfortable with life as it is and appears to be financially & economically independent.
It will be interesting to hear from one who’s struggled with making a living, whether that person would pop a pill that would cure deafness, or apply for citizenship in a country that has an ecosystem where signing deaf make a living on par with hearing & oral persons.
Or perhaps we will never hear from them as they are probably up to the brow struggling with life and daily issues. Who has the time to discuss identity when the basics are not even met?
Here is Asia, we see foreigners streaming to Singapore for a better chance at life. We see “peidu” mamas working hard to support their kids so that they have a better foundation for life in a highly competitive world. They are Chinese, Bangladeshi, Indonesian, etc. Why? So that they can get on with life. Do they have an identity? Yes they do. By coming to Singapore, learning English, and working hard in life, are they losing their identity? No. Yet, it’s necessary. The world doesn’t stop for anyone. Deaf or not, it’s often up to us to try to stay relevant in our era. Otherwise, we get snuffed out in a world where the fittest survives.
If economic and financial independence is only available to the privileged few among the deaf elite, I would say, listen to the majority. Their views, often unheard, would probably be more reflective of the realities, whether deaf persons want to hear or remain in their silent world.
PS. I am deaf. I am a quiet person, & prefer solitude to socialising anytime. Yet, I choose to hear because that’s the most practical option of communicating with the world at large. No regrets ‘cos it has made me a survivor in a dynamic world.
Comment by Thomas Tan — October 17, 2006 @ 9:14 am