Hearing women dating deaf/HoH men

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It seems like a lot of hearing men come in here asking for advice on how to date a deaf girl. Also, in my experience, it often seems like the majority of "mixed" relationships are usually a hearing man with a deaf woman. Even on this forum, it seems to be more often the case.

In my own personal experience, I have dated several hearing women, but I think I've had A LOT of potential relationships that never developed because of my hearing. And even though my previous relationships ended for whatever reasons, I do think my hearing was a factor each time. Maybe that's a faulty view. (Maybe I'm just a jerk, LOL! but I don't think that's true either. At least I hope not! :|)

I wonder about this. Assuming my observations are correct, why are hearing men more apt to find a deaf mate, but hearing women aren't as interested in a deaf mate?

Any theories? I have my own, but I'll withhold it and see what others have to say.
 
Probably the deaf women regard the hearing men a better potential earners.

My husband is hoh so I feel pretty safe to express the opinion.
 
Bottesini said:
Probably the deaf women regard the hearing men a better potential earners.

My husband is hoh so I feel pretty safe to express the opinion.
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That does fit into my theory, but I think it's got to be more than just that...


Also, Bott, any idea why hearing women aren't as interested in deaf men?
 
TheWriteAlex said:
That does fit into my theory, but I think it's got to be more than just that...


Also, Bott, any idea why hearing women aren't as interested in deaf men?
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I'm deaf, so I don't think I can speak for hearing women, but we sure get a lot of teen girls and early twenties, hearing women.

They come in and swoon for a little while about how they love deaf culture, or served a deaf guy in a restaurant, so they want to become one with us.

They tire of it quickly and leave. But for a tiny while it is interesting to them.
 
Bottesini said:
I'm deaf, so I don't think I can speak for hearing women, but we sure get a lot of teen girls and early twenties, hearing women.

They come in and swoon for a little while about how they love deaf culture, or served a deaf guy in a restaurant, so they want to become one with us.

They tire of it quickly and leave. But for a tiny while it is interesting to them.
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Maybe, but I'm still around :) hearing or deaf, it doesn't matter to me.
 
Em903 said:
Maybe, but I'm still around :) hearing or deaf, it doesn't matter to me.
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But you are not what Alex asked about who is pursuing deaf men.

YOu just said either way matters not. That isn;t what he is asking about.
 
Bottesini said:
But you are not what Alex asked about who is pursuing deaf men.

YOu just said either way matters not. That isn;t what he is asking about.
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True, sorry should've reworded. To be clear, I'm hearing and dating a deaf man. A girl from my ASL class, she's a bit younger, would like to date a deaf man but she's never explicitly told me why.
 
Em903 said:
True, sorry should've reworded. To be clear, I'm hearing and dating a deaf man. A girl from my ASL class, she's a bit younger, would like to date a deaf man but she's never explicitly told me why.
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Is she cute? :naughty:
 
TheWriteAlex said:
Is she cute? :naughty:
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LOL she is cute but she is a homeschooled 17 yr old who is taking ASL for her "foreign" language credit. We were at the residential deaf school here and the HS boys were trying to flirt with us. I told her to go flirt back because I felt old hehe.
 
Em903 said:
LOL she is cute but she is a homeschooled 17 yr old who is taking ASL for her "foreign" language credit. We were at the residential deaf school here and the HS boys were trying to flirt with us. I told her to go flirt back because I felt old hehe.
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Tell her to call me...










in 10 years :D
 
TheWriteAlex said:
Tell her to call me...










in 10 years :D
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LOL but back to your post... I personally would think more hearing women would be apt to date a deaf man than a hearing man date a deaf woman. Why? Well women have always been more into languages than men. But there are probably some exceptions of course.

I find that it's nicer to have eye contact and he pays attention more than previous men I've dated who were hearing. *Shrugs* I can't say much in how it's going because it is still rather new.

What are your theories Alex?
 
Em903 said:
LOL but back to your post... I personally would think more hearing women would be apt to date a deaf man than a hearing man date a deaf woman. Why? Well women have always been more into languages than men. But there are probably some exceptions of course.

I find that it's nicer to have eye contact and he pays attention more than previous men I've dated who were hearing. *Shrugs* I can't say much in how it's going because it is still rather new.

What are your theories Alex?
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Well, I hope this doesn't make me sound like a pessimist and a whiner or even a nerdy science geek, but I think it's a toxic combination of biological/evolutionary and societal perception. From what we've learned about evolution, female species (not just humans) are biologically attracted to the healthiest and strongest males. The most "desirable" females often mate with the "alpha" males.

Because of the stigma that our society places on deafness, I think a lot of women are just biologically not interested in deaf/HoH men. We are taught from an early age that people with biological differences are "disabled," or "defective." And god, who would want to be with someone defective, right? For these women, deafness is not a trait that they want passed on to their progeny. I'm not saying that I believe deafness is an undesirable trait, or that all women think that, because I think that's a load of shit and I know some women understand that. But it's still a fact that society has placed that stigma on deafness, and it's been hard to shake. And I know for a fact that some women who start out being attracted to me before they talk to me, usually lose romantic interest after a few communication issues come up.

Now, if I'm able to demonstrate that my deafness is actually a desirable trait, and sometimes I do, then I've got a chance with those alpha male hearing dudes, haha. For example, I am told by many hearing women that I am a good listener (the irony! LOL!). What they perceive as good listening is actually me concentrating with all my might in order to understand speech. Still, that shows deafness as a desirable trait. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be enough :(

But it is nice to know that there are women like yourself that see the stigma for what it is (a lie) and don't let affect your biological attraction to deaf men.
 
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TheWriteAlex said:
Well, I hope this doesn't make me sound like a pessimist and a whiner or even a nerdy science geek, but I think it's biological/evolutionary. From what we've learned about evolution, female species (not just humans) are biologically attracted to the healthiest and strongest males. The most "desirable" females often mate with the "alpha" males.

Because of the stigma that our society places on deafness, I think a lot of women are just biologically not interested in deaf/HoH men. We are taught from an early age that people deaf with biological differences are "disable," or "defective." And god, who would want to be with someone defective, right? For these women, deafness is not a trait that they want passed on to their progeny. I'm not saying that I believe deafness is an undesirable trait, or that all women think that, because I think that's a load of shit and I know some women understand that. But it's still a fact that society has placed that stigma on deafness, and it's been hard to shake. And I know for a fact that some women who start out being attracted to me before they talk to me, usually lose romantic interest after a few communication issues come up.
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I just wrote a paper about why being deaf should not be seen as a "disability" for a cultural class! Re:BOLD: the communication can be an issue but both parties have to be chill about it and learn how to laugh it off. I don't say "never mind" or anything like that but once I wasn't understanding what was being fingerspelled. I'm kinda dyslexic and I get the letters all turned about and then I can't visualize the word. So unfortunately, as a newbie signer, I pulled the whole "again, sorry again again" etc. And I got the response of "Forget it!" I had to sign back, "No don't tell me to 'forget it!' I wouldn't say that to you, now let me learn something, one more time, please." I got it thankfully lol and he understood that a "Forget it!" won't solve communication issues.

Now, if I'm able to demonstrate that my deafness is actually a desirable trait, and sometimes I do, then I've got a chance with those alpha male hearing dudes, haha. For example, I am told by many hearing women that I am a good listener (the irony! LOL!). What they perceive as good listening is actually me concentrating with all my might in order to understand speech. Still, that shows deafness as a desirable trait. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be enough :(

But it is nice to know that there are women like yourself that see the stigma for what it is (a lie) and don't let affect your biological attraction to deaf men.
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Interesting theory though but I hope that it isn't the case.
 
Oh, I should discuss the flipside of this. The reason why hearing men don't seem to have a problem with deaf women is because for them, non-visual biological differences are not as much a concern. Men are much more attracted to physicality than women. In fact, deafness is often a desirable trait to men. Some men like to be a "protector" and in extreme cases, this is taken to a controlling degree. I think some hearing men look at a deaf woman and like the idea that they can take care of her, that they can "protect" her and help her with her "disability." Let's face it, too, the hearing person in a relationship is easily able to control the deaf person in many situations, since most of society is auditory based. But then we all know the stories about Deaf women dating hearing men who take the man to the Deaf community, and the man gets pissed off because suddenly he's the one in the position of meekness. I can't help but feel that most of the time when a hearing man wants to date a deaf woman, even if he's not aware of it himself, he's reacting to his biological need to control and protect. I don't like that I feel like that, but I do.


I don't know. Maybe I've got it all wrong... :shrug:
 
TheWriteAlex said:
It seems like a lot of hearing men come in here asking for advice on how to date a deaf girl. Also, in my experience, it often seems like the majority of "mixed" relationships are usually a hearing man with a deaf woman. Even on this forum, it seems to be more often the case.

In my own personal experience, I have dated several hearing women, but I think I've had A LOT of potential relationships that never developed because of my hearing. And even though my previous relationships ended for whatever reasons, I do think my hearing was a factor each time. Maybe that's a faulty view. (Maybe I'm just a jerk, LOL! but I don't think that's true either. At least I hope not! :|)

I wonder about this. Assuming my observations are correct, why are hearing men more apt to find a deaf mate, but hearing women aren't as interested in a deaf mate?

Any theories? I have my own, but I'll withhold it and see what others have to say.
Click to expand...

I wonder if this fits your theory - I'm a female and I don't typically ask men out. I mean, I wait to be asked out. I don't know why, I'm neither a feminist nor anti-feminist, but I do. I feel too shy to ask someone out - not forward enough. If most females operate the same, then it might be the deaf guys who aren't interested in asking out the hearing females. Maybe the girls would be interested if they were asked?
 
Em903 said:
I just wrote a paper about why being deaf should not be seen as a "disability" for a cultural class! Re:BOLD: the communication can be an issue but both parties have to be chill about it and learn how to laugh it off. I don't say "never mind" or anything like that but once I wasn't understanding what was being fingerspelled. I'm kinda dyslexic and I get the letters all turned about and then I can't visualize the word. So unfortunately, as a newbie signer, I pulled the whole "again, sorry again again" etc. And I got the response of "Forget it!" I had to sign back, "No don't tell me to 'forget it!' I wouldn't say that to you, now let me learn something, one more time, please." I got it thankfully lol and he understood that a "Forget it!" won't solve communication issues.
Click to expand...

I agree with you 100% but you have to understand that most people are not aware of these issues. They just know what they learned when they were kids in school and the teacher said, "Now you all be nice to Alex; he can't hear as well as us." That, unfortunately, takes precedence in the minds of many. It takes a lot to "deprogram" this type of thinking. :thanks: for being one of the few! "


Interesting theory though but I hope that it isn't the case.
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I hope it isn't either, and there are always exceptions, of course.
 
nope said:
I wonder if this fits your theory - I'm a female and I don't typically ask men out. I mean, I wait to be asked out. I don't know why, I'm not a feminist, but I do. I feel too shy to ask someone out - not forward enough. If most females operate the same, then it might be the deaf guys who aren't interested in asking out the hearing females. Maybe the girls would be interested if they were asked?
Click to expand...

Yes, you've got a good point. I admit that I have failed, on occasion to "make the move," but that was only because I already felt rejected through nonverbal cues.

Still, I do ask hearing women out from time to time, and they sometimes get uncomfortable and deflect. Maybe I'm just not doing it right. :( You also have to keep in mind, it is quite difficult for a deaf/HoH man to ask a hearing women out in spoken language and be "smooth" about it. I've certainly bungled a few date requests because of my hearing.
 
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