May 10, 2010

Be Careful With Your Signing! My 'Oops' Moment in Using ASL

When I first started interacting with the signing deaf community over five years ago, the group I felt the most comfortable with was the LGBT group. As a whole, they were so much fun, warm, and welcoming.

At one of my first gatherings with the LGBT group, one of the questions I would be asked was, "Are you straight or are you gay?" I am straight, so I signed back, "I'm straight." I got a few weird looks and some laughs. I signed it again to clarify. "Do they not believe me?" I wondered.

Finally, after they had their laughs, someone pointed out that I was signing, "I'm a bitch," instead. I was going around saying, "I'm a bitch", "Oh, I'm a bitch", "I'm not gay, I am a bitch."

Oops.

The slight change in the direction can change the entire meaning.

The sign for 'straight' at the time, was a B hand shape, starting at or in front of your chin and you move out away from it. The sign for 'bitch' is also the b hand shape, but you move it towards your chin, hitting it.

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10 comments:

  1. You made quite the first impression, ha ha.
    Sarah
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  2. Good funny! Actually the sign for straight is made with the hand beginning at the nose or forehead and moving out. That is less confused with "bitch" which is toward the chin. Anyway, thanks for adding to the collection of ASL "oops" lore.
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  3. hahahahahahahahahahahah love it. one of my friends told me that someone asked her how to say "wanna hang out?" in sign language, so she did the sign for "wanna do it?", and the poor girl was going around saying "wanna do it?" instead of "wanna hang out"? sooo funny.
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  4. Funny clubs you have in America lol.... I cannot recall that question EVER being asked on a first visit basis ! Then again British are a bit 'straight laced' about sexuality, and would consider it offensive to be asked... Of course many homosexuals would not be upfront either, there is a lot of anti-gay views in the Brit deaf world, and Homosexuals tend to avoid main clubs anyway and have their own deaf areas. I recall doing a blog years ago (Must look it up again !), where I went with a group of deaf people for a day trip, and we inadvertently wandered into a Gay bar, with a bartender in a plastic see-through shirt of some description. It's a laugh, I'll have to put it back up for you !
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  5. Haha! And the way I learned "gay" is taking your chin between your thumb and your first finger, with your first finger a little more to the front/left of your chin, and the thumb on the right.
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  6. I thought it was funny how even though some were signing the correct sign for 'straight' when asking me the question, I still got it horribly wrong.

    (e
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  7. MM - LOL. Yeah, well it was a LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) group, so the question was not a surprise to me. It was expected.

    I live in a city where there is a large population of homosexuals. People are more open here than in most parts of the states.

    Yes, please direct me to that post about your trip to a gay bar and the guy with a see- through plastic shirt. LOL.

    (e
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  8. It poses the question (Which I did ask those who were on that trip), "Would you have gone in that bar if you knew it was a gay area ? ALL of them said no way, what would Americans 'straights' have said ? or would they say nil because of rights feedback ? I often think there is no adult debate about gender issues at all, most live in fear of saying what they really think. I think some humour can go some way to defusing the tensions these rights thinks create.
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  9. PS I put it up as an extra page on my blog look to the right under "On the deaf club trail", it's a bit long, let me know what you think...
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  10. I saw the page. Thanks. Great story.

    I thought it was so funny how it seemed as if everyone ran away like a fire broke out. LOL. Good for you staying and keeping your cool. I wish you had a picture of the man in the see-through shirt though. Ha, ha. I never heard about the handkerchiefs in the trouser thingie. Interesting. I am sure you were more aware of where you place your handkerchief afterward!

    (e
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