I unpacked a batch of donated old books about deafness at the thrift store yesterday. They had a creepy vibe.
A professor friend who is deaf writes about the social history of deafness, as well as recently publishing her first personal creative- nonfiction on the subject:
"Being Seen Deaf, or, Pools as Borders".
I texted her photos of the books, saying their covers and titles such as They Grow in Silence reminded me of sci-fi horror books . . . about plants:
Day of the Triffids (plants with poison tendrils) meets the Midwich Cuckoos (alien children).
Yes, she wrote back, deafness has been (and is) considered "monstrous, 'worse than blindness', whatever that means."
Deafness, as I understand it through friends in deaf culture, is kind of like race:
the unquestioned social norm is that a Person is "hearing" and "white". Attempts to mimic or conform to the norm may involve a monstrous warping.
The books reminded me of presidential daughter-in-law Lara Trump mocking Joe Biden's stutter. Sure enough, there was a book on stuttering in this stack too.
What a monstrous crew we have in the White House...
A professor friend who is deaf writes about the social history of deafness, as well as recently publishing her first personal creative- nonfiction on the subject:
"Being Seen Deaf, or, Pools as Borders".
I texted her photos of the books, saying their covers and titles such as They Grow in Silence reminded me of sci-fi horror books . . . about plants:
Day of the Triffids (plants with poison tendrils) meets the Midwich Cuckoos (alien children).
Deafness, as I understand it through friends in deaf culture, is kind of like race:
the unquestioned social norm is that a Person is "hearing" and "white". Attempts to mimic or conform to the norm may involve a monstrous warping.
The books reminded me of presidential daughter-in-law Lara Trump mocking Joe Biden's stutter. Sure enough, there was a book on stuttering in this stack too.
What a monstrous crew we have in the White House...
I don’t think the Trump has mocked Joe Biden’s speech — yet. Lara Trump, wife of Eric, just did, in an already infamous way.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I fixed it.
ReplyDeleteJust goes to show how little I pay attention to the news . . but also how easy it would be to believe that the president* of the United States would make fun of someone.
*impeached
Thanks again for thinking of me!
ReplyDeleteCreepy books, but the retro graphics are nice. (Judging a book by its cover, there!) Interesting author name on that blue one -- Bryng Bryngelson.
ReplyDeleteKRISTA: Thanks for telling me interesting things!
ReplyDeleteSTEVE: Aren't those graphics awesome? I thought so too.
And I hadn't even noticed that amazing name, Bryng Bryngelson!
Thanks for pointing it out.