Since I was born to a hearing family, deaf is definitely not a first thing on my identity list but it's definitely in top five things about me. If I was part of the deaf community, that might have been my first identity. Who knows? 😊 keep up good work!
[Jenna] Thank you for sharing about your identity. It's okay if Deaf is not your primary identity as long as that is what you feel strongly about yourself.
How funny, we have a big black dog named Falcore. Love this video...esp the piece about identity and how telling it is with the words people use to describe themselves.
I notice that I can follow Jenna's signs much more closely and easily than Jill's not sure why... I also have noticed the difference from the first videos to the more recent ones that, signing naturally with voice over later sort of delays when Jill translates the signs with words, and so I fall a little behind as a hearing person trying to match signs with words. But, I can still manage, and I still like to watch
I actually have the opposite problem! But, I am trying to improve my receptive skills and learn to understand different people and different styles, so I enjoy watching them both. I still got most of what she said.
[Jenna] Yes, it took us a while to change and improve on the quality of our videos over time. Definitely a big difference haha. Sometimes it is difficult to match sign to English words because not all ASL phrases can be translated word for word in English. We always do our best to make sure voiceover and captions match the meaning behind our signs.
Hey. I enjoyed your video today. So my identities are being queer, tansfemme, a person of color, a brown person, and arab, a man, being gay. For me they all interplay and intersect as one, they are not seperate forces that give me privileges and oppressions, but they are one connected force that impact my day to day life.
I get what you mean. That's what I always tell people who say you can't have an identity of your assigned gender if you identify as trans*, and I think people like you might be a good example for that. I mean, from what I've understood, you may identify as trans* but most of the society probably sees you as "just" a man, so you end up with two identities, one individual one and one the society is likely to impose on you, use as a guideline to judge you and hold you accountable to uphold - in such a sense that both end up affecting your life and making up an important part of your existence and interaction with society.
Voiceof Reason yeah but the issue with that is that people are inclined to think "ok so ur trans but people think ur a guy so a social identity is what u are received as not what u consider urself". while there's important implications for this, and this has many practical implications, at the end of the day it's not up to people, especially those outside of a community, to dictate others' identity or self.
I'm not Deaf, but I am disabled and a (heterosexual/cisgender/white) woman. I'd never thought about identity in terms of what we rank as most important to us, so thanks for such a good, thought-provoking video! I'd say my identity as disabled is what's most important to me because I feel that it's one of the biggest things (if not the absolute biggest thing) that's shaped, and continues to shape who I am, it's probably the most important lens through which I see the world. Also, having pride in this identity that's so often represented as a Bad Thing, something to be ashamed of, or pitied, or something in need of curing, is an act of defiance in itself, I think.
Even though I'm not deaf, I do have some hearing loss in my right ear due to having had ear infections as a kid (I got one every summer growing up because I went swimming a lot). I identify myself as a woman, lesbian, white, and proud to be a U.S. citizen, just to name a few things about myself. Thanks for making this video Jenna!!
Becoming Deaf in my teens and growing up in a hearing family, I only recently started learning sign and identifying as Deaf. But it becomes more important and I get more confident every day. So it's become an equal part as much as my gender preference and my age! :)
I know that I don’t really have a place here, but I would like to mention something about my sense of identity, something that goes along with what you were talking about, Jenna. My identity is pretty complicated; I am a woman, I am a hearing person, I am a Cancer, but neither my gender, nor my ability to hear, nor my astrological sign are the main part of my identity. Rather, a part of me that is much more fundamental to who I am, yet is something I’m not very comfortable sharing about myself: I have Asperger’s Syndrome.
I am disabled (wheelchair user). I'm also queer and gender fluid. Because I am oppressed by society because of these identities, I like to highlight them. To me, they are equally first.
Three words on my identity: blind, queer woman. Now that I think about it these are the main points of obvious distinction (where there are more challenges or societal change to be achieved) but there are plenty of other signifiers. I've felt strongly about being a woman as my primary identity while my low vision was a point of difficulty. However, as I've got older I'm more nuanced in my thoughts on gender identity and more adamant about inclusion on the part of my disability. I've often felt excluded from the LGBTQ+ community mainly because of my blindness so while I'm proud of being gay I don't have strong a community connection there. It's so complex and ever shifting in terms of connection and priority. Thanks for covering this topic!
[Jenna] That's lame people don't really include you in the LGBTQ+ community. Thank you for sharing about yourself on here. Identity is always complex and will always change as you grow and live your life.
I have some hearing loss. But because that's not the first thing people notice about me and it doesn't effect my life in such a huge way as most hoh or deaf people, I don't consider it my primary label. I'm a woman first, queer second, and hoh last.
I'm still not sure of how I identify, but I do think of it as a part of my identity. I think its because while I do feel that's its a big part of me, I want to wait until I'm closer the deaf culture before I know how important it is to me. (I'm still learning sign language and I'm in very little contact with the deaf community-just online, but it's likely going to improve a bit since I'm starting to go to classes to help me!) for now I usually just say "my name is Cayleigh, I'm deaf." but most people don't see it as me showing my identity.
identity is an interesting thing (btw thank you for having voice in the videos. if it were just signed and closed captions, it wouldnʻt work for the VI viewers) most people define their identity quite predictably (nationality, gender, some roles in work and family, religion, country of origin, languages etc). i love how the Deaf changed quite a bit the disability and identity culture, with the "i am Deaf/HoH, so what? not broken or disabled", which would be lovely to expand to many other disability groups. especially with the invisible or less popular kind issues. i'm an aspie, with low to no usable vision, a runner, a fan of audiobooks and movies, and love fluffy animals - all those would be in my definition of my identity before adding boring details like gender, relationship or civil status, or any of those things most people like to list first. so yay for more creative identities :)
We had a lot of discussions about "Deaf first" during classes at my school in Denmark! Most Deaf people do identify as Deaf first, and there are others that prefer to identify otherwise. However, something you didn't mention - a lot of Deaf people will be negative about it if you tell them that you don't identify as Deaf first. I think it's becoming less and less common now, but it's there. On my Twitter bio and TH-cam About, I have "queer Deaf guy" for a few reasons. For me, it's all about context and what situation I'm in. If I'm in a place where it's primarily Deaf people, or a place where it's obvious (like a Deaf event), I don't identify as Deaf first. Queer comes first. However, if it's in a situation where I'm the only - or one of a few - Deaf person there, then it's Deaf first, queer second. For the bio/about, I put it in that order partly because it sounds/looks better that way. But it's also because I know a lot of people follow/watch me due to my being Deaf, so I want to remind them that I am queer as well. It's a shame I can't put them together to make it fully equal!
I was first I didn’t he was girl, then blind, and then later as I was losing my hearing I added DEF. But back up a little bit between the deaf and the blind so found out I had a learning disability so that falls in between THE BLIND and the deaf. Because I had a learning disability before I came there way before I was like at six months old around the same time I became blind. So firstI see myself as a girl or young woman, and then blind, learning disability, and then death, and I’m close to 50 years old logging on the door 50. So I learn to love three parts of my life that took a while to get here but I did it with the help of God and my family
Really interesting topic. I wanted to hear you discuss some more. I would ID myself as American/Christian. Yeah, but this was a good video, short though, ha. Thx, Jenna
My identities have always been an odd thing for me to talk about. I identify as a queer (the umbrella term, mostly) woman. But where, within the sexual fluidity, I fall... Has been ever changing and difficult to explain to a lot of people. Though, I identify with it pretty strongly. I have a pretty severe mental illness that has taken some really deep roots since the passing of my mum. I unfortunately identify as mentally ill, internally, almost primarily. Mostly because I am putting in so much effort to try and get through and/or past it. Getting involved with the Deaf community has been the most pivotal thing for me in moving forward and gaining control of it. I learned to be fluent in a very short amount of time, and now I am pursuing it as a career. Have also since found out I have Meniere's... So we'll see how the whole interpreter career goes :/ Anywho, my comment is more to say that you bring up a good point I don't think people put enough thought into. Who are we really? One of my identities, I don't want, and am actively trying to get rid of. Others, I am proud of. I'm Canadian and consider myself incredibly lucky and very proud to be where I'm from. But my identities have certainly changed priorities over the years. Thanks for the video :)
[Jenna] Yes identity is a complex concept and will always change as you live your life. Pursuing interpreting career is great, and you can consider becoming a Deaf Interpreter if you lose your hearing. It is a growing field with great potential!
I identify first as a writer, then a nurse. Even though I don't physically write much anymore, it's still who I am and shapes how I think and see the world every day. Gender, visual ability, sexual preference are all issues for me but not priorities in my internal identity.
1st thing is my name which is Jarica. second thing i say im friends with the deaf and hard of hearing community. i am hard of hearing. i am enagged. that is mine ♡
Can you make? New Technology to get around our world 1 Visual World make best for Blind Individuals and Blind Community in Josephine Country in Grants Pass Oregon USA in October 13 2032 2 Auto World make best for Deaf Individuals and Deaf Community in Josephine Country in Grants Pass Oregon USA in May 18 2029
Jessie Well you are weird then for not understand about Deaf culture!! First of all, when I meet someone I tend say Hello I'm Deaf... My name is Ginger and say whatever I want/need to... To save their time from assume that I can hear or talk. I'd let them know I'm Deaf. I would explain more but I'm tired and ready for bed.
Hearing people don't need to identify as hearing because it's the assumed cultural norm, like the assumption of straight, cis-gender, etc. It's an identity that doesn't need to be advocated
First, it's because hearing people don't even realize they are hearing. They're "just people." It's like most straight people don't explicitly say they're straight unless asked, because straight is the default of society just as hearing is. Second, we tell people we're Deaf because if we don't, they'll get mad at us for not understanding them, they won't do anything to accommodate our needs, and a lot of other things!
I started going deaf in my teens and am now profoundly deaf. I identify myself as a deaf wife, mother and grandmother. Enjoyed the video
Since I was born to a hearing family, deaf is definitely not a first thing on my identity list but it's definitely in top five things about me. If I was part of the deaf community, that might have been my first identity. Who knows? 😊 keep up good work!
[Jenna] Thank you for sharing about your identity. It's okay if Deaf is not your primary identity as long as that is what you feel strongly about yourself.
How funny, we have a big black dog named Falcore. Love this video...esp the piece about identity and how telling it is with the words people use to describe themselves.
off topic, love the tattoo progression on your forearm.
[Jenna] Thanks!
I notice that I can follow Jenna's signs much more closely and easily than Jill's not sure why...
I also have noticed the difference from the first videos to the more recent ones that, signing naturally with voice over later sort of delays when Jill translates the signs with words, and so I fall a little behind as a hearing person trying to match signs with words. But, I can still manage, and I still like to watch
I actually have the opposite problem! But, I am trying to improve my receptive skills and learn to understand different people and different styles, so I enjoy watching them both. I still got most of what she said.
[Jenna] Yes, it took us a while to change and improve on the quality of our videos over time. Definitely a big difference haha. Sometimes it is difficult to match sign to English words because not all ASL phrases can be translated word for word in English. We always do our best to make sure voiceover and captions match the meaning behind our signs.
Hey. I enjoyed your video today. So my identities are being queer, tansfemme, a person of color, a brown person, and arab, a man, being gay. For me they all interplay and intersect as one, they are not seperate forces that give me privileges and oppressions, but they are one connected force that impact my day to day life.
I get what you mean. That's what I always tell people who say you can't have an identity of your assigned gender if you identify as trans*, and I think people like you might be a good example for that. I mean, from what I've understood, you may identify as trans* but most of the society probably sees you as "just" a man, so you end up with two identities, one individual one and one the society is likely to impose on you, use as a guideline to judge you and hold you accountable to uphold - in such a sense that both end up affecting your life and making up an important part of your existence and interaction with society.
Voiceof Reason yeah but the issue with that is that people are inclined to think "ok so ur trans but people think ur a guy so a social identity is what u are received as not what u consider urself". while there's important implications for this, and this has many practical implications, at the end of the day it's not up to people, especially those outside of a community, to dictate others' identity or self.
I can see why your Kitty's name is Valcore! so cute!
[Jenna] It's actually spelled as Falkor. Was a typo in the captions..oops!
I'm not Deaf, but I am disabled and a (heterosexual/cisgender/white) woman. I'd never thought about identity in terms of what we rank as most important to us, so thanks for such a good, thought-provoking video! I'd say my identity as disabled is what's most important to me because I feel that it's one of the biggest things (if not the absolute biggest thing) that's shaped, and continues to shape who I am, it's probably the most important lens through which I see the world. Also, having pride in this identity that's so often represented as a Bad Thing, something to be ashamed of, or pitied, or something in need of curing, is an act of defiance in itself, I think.
[Jenna] You're definitely right about being proud of something that often is looked down-an act of defiance. I like that. :)
Even though I'm not deaf, I do have some hearing loss in my right ear due to having had ear infections as a kid (I got one every summer growing up because I went swimming a lot). I identify myself as a woman, lesbian, white, and proud to be a U.S. citizen, just to name a few things about myself. Thanks for making this video Jenna!!
[Jenna] You're welcome!
Becoming Deaf in my teens and growing up in a hearing family, I only recently started learning sign and identifying as Deaf. But it becomes more important and I get more confident every day. So it's become an equal part as much as my gender preference and my age! :)
I know that I don’t really have a place here, but I would like to mention something about my sense of identity, something that goes along with what you were talking about, Jenna. My identity is pretty complicated; I am a woman, I am a hearing person, I am a Cancer, but neither my gender, nor my ability to hear, nor my astrological sign are the main part of my identity. Rather, a part of me that is much more fundamental to who I am, yet is something I’m not very comfortable sharing about myself: I have Asperger’s Syndrome.
I am disabled (wheelchair user). I'm also queer and gender fluid. Because I am oppressed by society because of these identities, I like to highlight them. To me, they are equally first.
[Jenna] yes, be proud of yourself for just being you. :)
Three words on my identity: blind, queer woman. Now that I think about it these are the main points of obvious distinction (where there are more challenges or societal change to be achieved) but there are plenty of other signifiers. I've felt strongly about being a woman as my primary identity while my low vision was a point of difficulty. However, as I've got older I'm more nuanced in my thoughts on gender identity and more adamant about inclusion on the part of my disability. I've often felt excluded from the LGBTQ+ community mainly because of my blindness so while I'm proud of being gay I don't have strong a community connection there. It's so complex and ever shifting in terms of connection and priority. Thanks for covering this topic!
I'm sorry to hear you didn't feel welcome in the LGBTQ+ community. Hope you find more queer people who value and recognize you for who you are.
[Jenna] That's lame people don't really include you in the LGBTQ+ community. Thank you for sharing about yourself on here. Identity is always complex and will always change as you grow and live your life.
I have some hearing loss. But because that's not the first thing people notice about me and it doesn't effect my life in such a huge way as most hoh or deaf people, I don't consider it my primary label. I'm a woman first, queer second, and hoh last.
[Jenna] Make sense.
I'm still not sure of how I identify, but I do think of it as a part of my identity. I think its because while I do feel that's its a big part of me, I want to wait until I'm closer the deaf culture before I know how important it is to me. (I'm still learning sign language and I'm in very little contact with the deaf community-just online, but it's likely going to improve a bit since I'm starting to go to classes to help me!) for now I usually just say "my name is Cayleigh, I'm deaf." but most people don't see it as me showing my identity.
identity is an interesting thing (btw thank you for having voice in the videos. if it were just signed and closed captions, it wouldnʻt work for the VI viewers)
most people define their identity quite predictably (nationality, gender, some roles in work and family, religion, country of origin, languages etc). i love how the Deaf changed quite a bit the disability and identity culture, with the "i am Deaf/HoH, so what? not broken or disabled", which would be lovely to expand to many other disability groups. especially with the invisible or less popular kind issues. i'm an aspie, with low to no usable vision, a runner, a fan of audiobooks and movies, and love fluffy animals - all those would be in my definition of my identity before adding boring details like gender, relationship or civil status, or any of those things most people like to list first. so yay for more creative identities :)
We had a lot of discussions about "Deaf first" during classes at my school in Denmark! Most Deaf people do identify as Deaf first, and there are others that prefer to identify otherwise. However, something you didn't mention - a lot of Deaf people will be negative about it if you tell them that you don't identify as Deaf first. I think it's becoming less and less common now, but it's there. On my Twitter bio and TH-cam About, I have "queer Deaf guy" for a few reasons. For me, it's all about context and what situation I'm in. If I'm in a place where it's primarily Deaf people, or a place where it's obvious (like a Deaf event), I don't identify as Deaf first. Queer comes first. However, if it's in a situation where I'm the only - or one of a few - Deaf person there, then it's Deaf first, queer second. For the bio/about, I put it in that order partly because it sounds/looks better that way. But it's also because I know a lot of people follow/watch me due to my being Deaf, so I want to remind them that I am queer as well. It's a shame I can't put them together to make it fully equal!
[Jenna] Excellent point! Identity is fluid and can change depending on where you are, who you are interacting with, etc.
I was first I didn’t he was girl, then blind, and then later as I was losing my hearing I added DEF. But back up a little bit between the deaf and the blind so found out I had a learning disability so that falls in between THE BLIND and the deaf. Because I had a learning disability before I came there way before I was like at six months old around the same time I became blind. So firstI see myself as a girl or young woman, and then blind, learning disability, and then death, and I’m close to 50 years old logging on the door 50. So I learn to love three parts of my life that took a while to get here but I did it with the help of God and my family
Really interesting topic. I wanted to hear you discuss some more. I would ID myself as American/Christian. Yeah, but this was a good video, short though, ha. Thx, Jenna
My identities have always been an odd thing for me to talk about. I identify as a queer (the umbrella term, mostly) woman. But where, within the sexual fluidity, I fall... Has been ever changing and difficult to explain to a lot of people. Though, I identify with it pretty strongly. I have a pretty severe mental illness that has taken some really deep roots since the passing of my mum. I unfortunately identify as mentally ill, internally, almost primarily. Mostly because I am putting in so much effort to try and get through and/or past it. Getting involved with the Deaf community has been the most pivotal thing for me in moving forward and gaining control of it. I learned to be fluent in a very short amount of time, and now I am pursuing it as a career. Have also since found out I have Meniere's... So we'll see how the whole interpreter career goes :/
Anywho, my comment is more to say that you bring up a good point I don't think people put enough thought into. Who are we really? One of my identities, I don't want, and am actively trying to get rid of. Others, I am proud of. I'm Canadian and consider myself incredibly lucky and very proud to be where I'm from. But my identities have certainly changed priorities over the years. Thanks for the video :)
[Jenna] Yes identity is a complex concept and will always change as you live your life. Pursuing interpreting career is great, and you can consider becoming a Deaf Interpreter if you lose your hearing. It is a growing field with great potential!
I identify first as a writer, then a nurse. Even though I don't physically write much anymore, it's still who I am and shapes how I think and see the world every day. Gender, visual ability, sexual preference are all issues for me but not priorities in my internal identity.
[Jenna] Thank you for sharing. :)
I am Deaf and I am in a hearing family born. I was born sick and that made me go Deaf.
[Jenna] Thank you for sharing about your identity.
I am wife, mother,grandmother,deaf in that order.
Deaf Autistic. That first then disabled service dog handler and then Queer. But it changes depending on who I'm with.
1st thing is my name which is Jarica. second thing i say im friends with the deaf and hard of hearing community. i am hard of hearing. i am enagged. that is mine ♡
My identity is Deafplus I'm Deaf first I'm very proud to be Deaf I'm proud to be a wheelchair user and pansexual but Deaf is first
1
Can you make?
New Technology to get around our world
1
Visual World make best for Blind Individuals and Blind Community in Josephine Country in Grants Pass Oregon USA in October 13 2032
2
Auto World make best for Deaf Individuals and Deaf Community in Josephine Country in Grants Pass Oregon USA in May 18 2029
Deaf people are weird, hearing would never identify themselves as hearing
Jessie Well you are weird then for not understand about Deaf culture!!
First of all, when I meet someone I tend say Hello I'm Deaf... My name is Ginger and say whatever I want/need to... To save their time from assume that I can hear or talk. I'd let them know I'm Deaf. I would explain more but I'm tired and ready for bed.
Hearing people don't need to identify as hearing because it's the assumed cultural norm, like the assumption of straight, cis-gender, etc. It's an identity that doesn't need to be advocated
First, it's because hearing people don't even realize they are hearing. They're "just people." It's like most straight people don't explicitly say they're straight unless asked, because straight is the default of society just as hearing is.
Second, we tell people we're Deaf because if we don't, they'll get mad at us for not understanding them, they won't do anything to accommodate our needs, and a lot of other things!
Rogan Shannon I love your slang video with Ren, my ASL 4 professor showed it to my class