March 27, 2010

Are You a Sneaky Deaf?

This is a hilarious video clip from Sue Sylvester of the TV show GLEE.
She is talking about 'sneaky gays'. She rants about how she can't tell who is gay anymore, and it confuses her. She says, "Now you could be sitting next to a sneaky gay right now and you'd never even know it." She advises sneaky gays to "swish it up!" meaning go all out and claim your homosexuality so that she won't be so confused anymore about who is or who is not gay.

"Cause' if I can't tell if you're gay, how will I know who to judge?"  Hilarious.

For those of you who don't know about this actress, Jane Lynch, she plays coach Sue Sylvester on GLEE and she recently came out. I absolutely LOVE her. She cracks me up.

The captioning sucks. Sorry.


(via LadyGatza)

So, are you a sneaky deaf? Do you go around hiding your hearing aids or cochlear implants, pretending to hear what everyone is saying by nodding your head and smiling? Are people constantly confused about your behavior, wondering if you don't like to listen or if you are a little slow when it comes to having conversations?  Then you may be a sneaky deaf.

Anyone can be sitting next to a sneaky deaf and may never even know it. And that just don't sit right with me.
You should be able to see a deaf person a mile away. 

Don't pretend that you are hearing. Stop it. It's confusing and exhausting. You are not doing anyone favors. "Swish it up a bit!" Tiny in-the-ear hearing aid covered by your long hair? "Swish it up!" I want to see enormous BTE hearing aids with colorful ear molds. Wear your hair up. Put stickers on those suckers. Try rhinestones. Hell, go for flashing lights if you can (and let me know how I can do the same). Tell everyone that you are deaf, hard of hearing, hearing challenged, whatever. Just speak up! Then maybe people won't be so confused by your actions and make negative assumptions about you.

(e

10 comments:

  1. I don't pretend I am hearing people just assume I am. It's pointless arguing with many mainly because I speak well, they just will not really believe your hearing doesn't work. If I have a good day with my lip-reading then there is no way on the planet I would ever convince people I am deaf. Sometimes I go with it, so yes I am a sneaky hearing wannabee lol..... Perhaps we should make more effort to ID we are deaf, I don't want to sign everywhere because no-one will follow anyway, perhaps I can wear an arm band or something. I've never seen Glee anyway, but then I don't watch TV much anyway, and am averse to American TV on Brit channels :) I never want to watch another teen angst TV program with singing and dancing in it, I think it is way overdone. I didn't like FAME and those other things, they are for kids really.
    ReplyDelete
  2. hah!

    ;)

    I don't go around pretending things. Deaf people who finds out that I can talk assumes s***

    I don't hide my hearing loss and I enjoy being able to oralize with my hearing peer on my left and in the very next second sign to my deaf peer on my right. Been doing this all my life. Don't like it? Tough.

    When I was a pre-teen, I used to worry too much about people finding out that I have a hearing loss. I outgrew that. I think being gay is even harder for some to come out. It's more of a taboo than having a hearing loss.
    ReplyDelete
  3. Unless you are overt camp, or kissing same sex in public, no-one will notice anyway. Being gay is a lot easier than being deaf. You are sussed right away in a social situation, you cannot hide being deaf for any length of time, unless you never enter into hearing deaf situations. People DO hide their deafness, I tried for most of my working life, to declare you were deaf meant no-one would hire you. I rejected the state 'disability' card as well, because although a legal requirement at the time, to show it meant you had no hope of a job once employers knew.
    ReplyDelete
  4. MM- Yes, I'll admit sometimes I'll give up and go with it. So, I can be a sneaky hearing wannabe at times too. Some people will assume that my hearing is normal once I put on my hearing aid. So, I have to tell them that I still need to often be able to read their lips or have face to face conversations.

    Yes, it is probably easier to pretend that you are straight than to pretend that you are hearing. After a while, people will discover your deafness. However, over here in America, depending on the situation, being openly gay is certainly harder than being openly deaf.

    (e
    ReplyDelete
  5. I have tears of laughter that just can't stop flowing. I need to share this one with my best friend xD Sarcasm ftw.

    On the other hand it's sad. Hearing people do tend to want to know who to label as being deficient... and seem to get upset if they didn't "know" that a person wasn't "normal". Then they give pitiful condencending glances at people who explain that there is no deficiency in the first place. I'm just glad I live in an era where I can just put people on "ignore" and carry on with life anyway.
    ReplyDelete
  6. Ignore isn't an option for many isolated deaf, they are ignored already ! People need people that's a fact, so often whatever it takes to facilitate that many will do. I'm straight anyway lol But if I wasn't I would find no need to broadcast it to all and sundry, however there is a NEED to broadcast you cannot hear, it's that, or people assume you are stupid. Having said that I found stupid carried better.... eccentric even further lol
    ReplyDelete
  7. There is a need to broadcast it. Yes.
    I am working on a way to broadcast my deafness in public. It will be interesting to see how people will react. Coming soon. . .

    (e
    ReplyDelete
  8. Like MM people assume I'm hearing because I speak clearly. But I don't hide my deafness.
    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm always used to having my hair up because it's thick and wavy. When I got my hearing aids, this meant that everyone could see them from day one. So I was a little self conscious in the beginning because people could now see that I don't have full hearing.
    I never went through the "hiding my hearing aids under my hair" thing because my hair has always been too thick to have down unless I straighten it.

    By the way (e, I have a way of broadcasting my deafness. I let people see my hearing aids and I bling them up with sticky rhinestones when I go out. I do this for 2 reasons.:

    1. Showing my hearing aids helps people understand that I don't hear them sometimes, that I'm not ignoring them or being rude or aloof.
    2. Blinging them up with different coloured rhinestones is fun and says "hey I can have fun with this. I don't bite".

    Also, for anyone who has ever assumed that hearing aids give you full hearing, I just say they are hearing aids, not hearing cures! (and that's from a medical standpoint, not a cultural one, so I mean no disrespect to anyone by using the word cure!)
    ReplyDelete
  10. That's so true. I mean, people always assume that I'm not listening! Seriously, I'm just quiet so I can focus on listening. You just can't assume deaf can't hear anything or won't pick things up when listening. You have to get to know one before jumping onto conclusion of deaf people. I am be deaf myself, but I wear digital hearing aids! They help so much that I feel like a normal hearing person.
    Of course, I can admit...deaf has its own advantage and hearing people don't always understand like trying to explain what is like to be deaf. They don't truly know the true concept of being deaf!
    Though, today, we can share knowledge of deaf to others. :D Plus, I talk just fine, but it doesn't mean we can't hear, we're just facing different challenges.
    ReplyDelete

Please refrain from using profanity or derogatory remarks.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)