They Told Me My Name: Developing a Deaf Identity

Abstract

This article examines the process of deaf people coming to identify as culturally Deaf-a distinction typically made in the literature as an identity belonging to those who use sign language to communicate-and how this identity process co-occurs with other social identities, namely sexuality and race. Through pairing Goffman's work with perspectives from Feminist Disability Studies, we extend the sociological literature on both identity and disability. To do so, we analyze qualitative data collected through narrative interviews with five Deaf, gay and lesbian individuals with different racial backgrounds. Our analysis surfaces deaf people's encounters with one another and how, relatedly, becoming Deaf is shaped by Goffman's concepts of affiliation and obtrusiveness. For example, we show how shifting affiliations occur when transitioning into a minority (e.g., Deaf) culture, through interactions that demand managing the obtrusiveness of multiple intersecting, potentially discrediting, statuses. Our article also reveals a bidirectional relationship between affiliation and obtrusiveness.

Deaf Identity Salience: Tracing Daphne’s Deaf Identity Salience Through Switched at Birth

“…Big “D” Deaf is when one is culturally Deaf and proud of that position. A Deaf individual often utilizes their deafness as a part of their broader personal identity, such as one does with sexual orientation, race, and gender identity (Mauldin & Fannon, 2021). Through studying Deaf individuals with multiple stigmatized identities, researchers have found that a Deaf identity has comparable importance to other stigmatized identities (Chapman, 2021; Mauldin & Fannon, 2021).…”

“…The majority of Deaf identity research focuses on the identity development of Deaf persons (Glickman, 1993; Glickman & Carey, 1993; Hole, 2007; Kunnen, 2014; McIlroy & Storbeck, 2011; Mauldin & Fannon, 2021). Deafness actively shapes Deaf person’s life (Hole, 2007) and influences identity formation much earlier than other identities (Kunnen, 2014).…”

Missing Pieces: Engaging Sociology of Disability in Medical Sociology

“…In the United States, for example, a lack of a universal health care system and a byzantine and highly restrictive system of support for disabled people (i.e., programs such as Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicaid) entraps disabled people financially and geographically (Grossman 2019;Stapleton et al 2006). Scholars in this subfield also document how disability produces culture and identity (e.g., Grue 2016;Mauldin and Fannon 2020).…”

“Opportunity Blocked”: Deaf People, Employment and the Sociology of Audism

“…Lempka (2019) finds that stigma acts as a significant barrier to employment for deaf people because employers are less likely to hire individuals with a perceived negative trait. In that context, deaf people are perceived to possess an “attribute that is deeply discrediting” (Goffman 1963:3) and deafness is master status that overrides all other character traits such as ability or personality (Maudlin and Fannon 2021). According to Corrigan and Watson (2002), stigma provides a rationale for society to reject and exclude certain people who possess undesirable characteristics.…”