Jessica PingWord of the Week – “deaf”
In this blog post, I will do a close examination of the word “deaf” and explain why you should not be using it for any other reason than for identification.
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Introduction To The Ableist Language Series:
Ableist language perpetuates the inferiority of people with disabilities. At its core, it is oppressive, derogatory, and hurtful, no matter the intention behind its usage.
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I guarantee that you use ableist language every single day without even realizing it. It rolls off the tongue naturally because it’s hardly ever questioned.
Here on The Rolling Explorer, I am going to start questioning it.
As an advocate for disability rights, I was appalled when I realized how common ableist language was in my own vocabulary. Of course, like many of you, I was uneducated and unaware of the implications behind my word choice. Our systemically ableist society has allowed these words and phrases to grow in popularity for too long. It’s time for a change.
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Every other week, I will be sharing a blog post that highlights one of the words from the downloadable glossary above. These posts will provide definitions, explanations, as well as alternative words and phrases to use in place of the one being examined.
Today’s word is “Deaf.” Keep reading to learn why this word is inherently ableist and discover alternatives you can begin to use in its place.
Definition of “deaf”
1: lacking or deficient in the sense of hearing
2: unwilling to hear or listen : not to be persuaded
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How is “deaf” Ableist?
“Deaf,” unlike many other words featured in the Ableist Language Series, is not inherently ableist. There are ways to use the word “deaf” that are not offensive. For example, if you are using the term to identify someone in the Deaf community, or to refer to the community at large, that is a more than acceptable usage of the word. Due to the immense amount of pride within the Deaf community, the term, when used as a proper identifier, is often viewed positively. However, all one needs to do is look at the second definition above to see how problems can easily arise.
“Unwilling to hear or listen.”
Equating someone’s true inability to hear properly or at all with someone’s ignorance is where ableism begins to leak in. Screaming at someone “Are you deaf!?” when they mishear you or linking deafness to how dense someone is behaving is ableist.
Why?
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In the first scenario, there is not an ounce of respect for the word in sight. Deaf culture is very real, and when you take someone’s identifier and use it in such an aggressive manner, you show your general disrespect for their community. It becomes a slur, something you would choose to ignore out in public and something you could not handle being yourself.
When you say that someone is “deaf” to a certain, often political, situation, you are essentially using someone’s identifier to signify someone’s unwillingness to learn, which is incredibly problematic. There is a long history of connecting the deaf community with being unintelligent. It stems from the idea that if one cannot use their voice, they have nothing else to add to the world. Not only is this untrue, but it is outrageously hurtful. So, if you use “deaf” in this manner, even if your true intention is not to directly harm the Deaf community, you do so by passively perpetuating the idea that “deafness and dumbness” are one and the same.
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Alternative Words and Phrases
Instead of saying that someone is “deaf” to a particular circumstance, say one of the following:
- Ignorant
- Unwilling to learn/understand
- Misunderstanding
- Uneducated
- Dense
- Thick
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Thank you for sharing this valuable information. I am learning thanks to this post. I had never thought of how offensive the use of this word could be to the actual community at large.
i wanted to leave this comment on your “bonkers” post, but apparently you close comments on posts that are not super recent, so i can’t.
telling people that they should use different words bc “it will make you sound more intelligent” is also ableist. suggesting alternatives that imply or explicitly state intelligence and/or education are necessary or desired in society is still ableist and simply adds some classism (and usually racism). if you are going to be intersectional, then you need to include every intersection of marginalization, every time.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. As I have shared on my blog, I am still very new to this and I am learning too. The issue you have mentioned has been fixed.