the Audist Network

jillio said:
Re: the bolded: Very insightful, and I believe that you are 100% correct. Audist belief systems are demonstrated to a deaf child from day one. They internalize these beliefs, and they influence behavior and attitudes without even realizing it.
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thats should be in sociology, i wonder if they actually teach this at Gally?!
 
That's a good one. The difference between unconscious and dysconscious is that unconscious means one is unaware of their conscious thoughts or attitudes whereas the other is they ARE aware but don't know it's impaired thinking.

For example, in racism - someone who is unconsciously racist is not aware they're racist. Jane Elliot of the "Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes" project demonstrates unconscious racism very very well.

Dysconscious racism would be a person who is fully aware they are racist but not that their reasonings for racism is wrong and impaired.

That's why dysconscious was termed - to make that specific distinction from unconscious.
 
I think I'm going to print this off and hang it up at the office at work, with the permission of a few deafies at work of course, because I see a lot of denial at work about the subject and I think it would open a few people's eyes.
 
deafskeptic said:
The word Beef would be one such example. It's from the Latin word bovīnus which in turn was loaned to the French langauge that the Norman nobles who ruled England spoke. They called cow meat Boef. The modern French word for is Boeuf.
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Have you ever taken a course in etymology? It is really interesting.
 
DeafCaroline said:
That's a good one. The difference between unconscious and dysconscious is that unconscious means one is unaware of their conscious thoughts or attitudes whereas the other is they ARE aware but don't know it's impaired thinking.

For example, in racism - someone who is unconsciously racist is not aware they're racist. Jane Elliot of the "Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes" project demonstrates unconscious racism very very well.

Dysconscious racism would be a person who is fully aware they are racist but not that their reasonings for racism is wrong and impaired.

That's why dysconscious was termed - to make that specific distinction from unconscious.
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Right. Dysconscious is different from unconscious. It is a commonly used term in both sociology and psychology. And we all know that all professions have their jargon specific to that field.
 
DeafCaroline said:
That's a good one. The difference between unconscious and dysconscious is that unconscious means one is unaware of their conscious thoughts or attitudes whereas the other is they ARE aware but don't know it's impaired thinking.

For example, in racism - someone who is unconsciously racist is not aware they're racist. Jane Elliot of the "Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes" project demonstrates unconscious racism very very well.

Dysconscious racism would be a person who is fully aware they are racist but not that their reasonings for racism is wrong and impaired.

That's why dysconscious was termed - to make that specific distinction from unconscious.
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i like distinction very much, very useful for later on
 
I have trouble with words pronunciation and some people see me as being very
S L O W because of this! I had a doctor that thought I was very S L O W because of it. And an intake person at another DR office felt the same about.
When I lived in Cal. my daughter liked a little girl but her mother who when to
'Radcliffe' college was horrific that her child wanted to go my house to play with my child. It is really sad when a parent do not allow their kids to play another child that they really like just because a parent had trouble with pronunciation. It is not contagious being around a deaf or HOH person!
 
DeafCaroline said:
That's a good one. The difference between unconscious and dysconscious is that unconscious means one is unaware of their conscious thoughts or attitudes whereas the other is they ARE aware but don't know it's impaired thinking.

For example, in racism - someone who is unconsciously racist is not aware they're racist. Jane Elliot of the "Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes" project demonstrates unconscious racism very very well.

Dysconscious racism would be a person who is fully aware they are racist but not that their reasonings for racism is wrong and impaired.

That's why dysconscious was termed - to make that specific distinction from unconscious.
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I think you've made a crucial point of a racist (or audist) being either unconscious or conscious of their prejudice.

Yet when I tried to research the term 'dysconscious', I found a slightly different uses of the word. This Deaf blogger used the term more in the sense of the oppressed person internalizing the values of the oppressors and being unaware of doing so. (Note: not the oppressor being conscious of their prejudice.)
Guilty of Dysconscious Linguicism Part II : Shel: A Deaf Canadian's Thoughts

The next link defines it as "an uncritical habit of mind (including perceptions, attitudes, assumptions, and beliefs) that justifies inequity and exploitation by accepting the existing order of things as given" which again puts it more in the unconscious
Is Racism Over?: How Racial Inequity Remains, Despite the Absence of Outright Bigotry | Suite101.com

Given that the word 'dysconscious' isn't widely accepted, maybe these differences of meaning are inevitable. But I think the idea that there are a range of ways in which we hold prejudices is both true and helpful. The reality of discrimination experienced by HOH/deaf/Deaf people is all too real even if the words used aren't widely accepted or agreed upon. I'm going to try and list them below using non-technical language:

CONSCIOUS AUDISM: A person who explicitly and consistently believes that having hearing and oral language makes a person superior

UNCONSCIOUS AUDISM: A person who consciously believes that both deaf and hearing people are equal. But underneath their awareness, their behaviour reveals their unconscious belief that oral language and hearing are superior (e.g. a hearing parent who refuses to use sign language for a deaf child who cannot hear speech)

INCONSISTENT AUDISM: A person who has a mixture of beliefs. Their overall belief may be that deaf and hearing people are equal, but will have smaller "sub-beliefs" or unexamined opinions that are audist (e.g. believes that deaf are equal as humans, but believes that oral language is superior to sign language. Or they find themselves treating a fluent ASL user who doesn't write very good English is not being as intelligent as a person who writes good English)

INTERNALIZED AUDISM: A deaf person who is unaware that they have absorbed the values and beliefs of audism (e.g. a deaf people who thinks he/she is inferior because he/she doesn't speak as well as a hearing person).

I hope this list is helpful. I'm more interested in highlighting the actual experience of discrimination in its various forms than having a solely technical debate about this or that word which distracts from the reality of discrimination.
 
AJWSmith said:
I think you've made a crucial point of a racist (or audist) being either unconscious or conscious of their prejudice.

Yet when I tried to research the term 'dysconscious', I found a slightly different uses of the word. This Deaf blogger used the term more in the sense of the oppressed person internalizing the values of the oppressors and being unaware of doing so. (Note: not the oppressor being conscious of their prejudice.)
Guilty of Dysconscious Linguicism Part II : Shel: A Deaf Canadian's Thoughts

The next link defines it as "an uncritical habit of mind (including perceptions, attitudes, assumptions, and beliefs) that justifies inequity and exploitation by accepting the existing order of things as given" which again puts it more in the unconscious
Is Racism Over?: How Racial Inequity Remains, Despite the Absence of Outright Bigotry | Suite101.com

Given that the word 'dysconscious' isn't widely accepted, maybe these differences of meaning are inevitable. But I think the idea that there are a range of ways in which we hold prejudices is both true and helpful. The reality of discrimination experienced by HOH/deaf/Deaf people is all too real even if the words used aren't widely accepted or agreed upon. I'm going to try and list them below using non-technical language:

CONSCIOUS AUDISM: A person who explicitly and consistently believes that having hearing and oral language makes a person superior

UNCONSCIOUS AUDISM: A person who consciously believes that both deaf and hearing people are equal. But underneath their awareness, their behaviour reveals their unconscious belief that oral language and hearing are superior (e.g. a hearing parent who refuses to use sign language for a deaf child who cannot hear speech)

INCONSISTENT AUDISM: A person who has a mixture of beliefs. Their overall belief may be that deaf and hearing people are equal, but will have smaller "sub-beliefs" or unexamined opinions that are audist (e.g. believes that deaf are equal as humans, but believes that oral language is superior to sign language. Or they find themselves treating a fluent ASL user who doesn't write very good English is not being as intelligent as a person who writes good English)

INTERNALIZED AUDISM: A deaf person who is unaware that they have absorbed the values and beliefs of audism (e.g. a deaf people who thinks he/she is inferior because he/she doesn't speak as well as a hearing person).

I hope this list is helpful. I'm more interested in highlighting the actual experience of discrimination in its various forms than having a solely technical debate about this or that word which distracts from the reality of discrimination.
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If you're interested in highlighting the actual experience of discrimination in various forms, AD is the right place to find them. Plenty of them described here.
 
DeafCaroline said:
If you're interested in highlighting the actual experience of discrimination in various forms, AD is the right place to find them. Plenty of them described here.
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True that. A researcher joined for just that reason.:P (And no, not me.)
Problem is, many don't want to pay attention to the actual experiences.
 
AJWSmith said:
I think you've made a crucial point of a racist (or audist) being either unconscious or conscious of their prejudice.

CONSCIOUS AUDISM: A person who explicitly and consistently believes that having hearing and oral language makes a person superior

(rest of list)

I hope this list is helpful. I'm more interested in highlighting the actual experience of discrimination in its various forms than having a solely technical debate about this or that word which distracts from the reality of discrimination.
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That's a pretty neat list.

However, we only got one side of the story. Are there definitions for deaf equivalents of these?

I'm not trying to stir a debate, but I'm interested in seeing everything from a mutual/neutral standpoint. Anything completely against another side is going to be operating on a bias of some kind.
 
On a sidenote, I think I have 'internalized deafism' (or signism, whatever is the opposite equivalent). I'm a deaf person who has absorbed the values and beliefs of deafism. Sometimes when I sign with other folks, I then accustom to feeling inferior because I don't sign as well (~3 years experience, on and off) as the deaf folks who then aren't interested in conversating face to face anymore. :P
 
naisho said:
That's a pretty neat list.

However, we only got one side of the story. Are there definitions for deaf equivalents of these?

I'm not trying to stir a debate, but I'm interested in seeing everything from a mutual/neutral standpoint. Anything completely against another side is going to be operating on a bias of some kind.
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There is virtually no way that you can achieve a completely neutral viewpoint. That is the point.
 
naisho said:
That's a pretty neat list.

However, we only got one side of the story. Are there definitions for deaf equivalents of these?

I'm not trying to stir a debate, but I'm interested in seeing everything from a mutual/neutral standpoint. Anything completely against another side is going to be operating on a bias of some kind.
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This is a good point as discrimination occurs in many many different ways and it isn't any less painful because there isn't a dictionary definition for it. I remember somebody arguing for the word "deafism" and another for the word "reverse-audism". I prefer the latter myself.
 
AJWSmith said:
This is a good point as discrimination occurs in many many different ways and it isn't any less painful because there isn't a dictionary definition for it. I remember somebody arguing for the word "deafism" and another for the word "reverse-audism". I prefer the latter myself.
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Reverse-audism - as you said in an earlier post - a Deaf person disrespecting a hearing person because they value having hearing.

Is this something you see in life or on here?

It's a fine line because from what I've observed in my life that in instances in which a deaf person is showing "disrespect" to a hearing person (any hearing person) is because the hearing person said or did something that offended them.

Most deaf people have hearing parents and hearing siblings and relatives so I am wondering if reverse-audism is common, if this means the Deaf don't respect their own family because the family appreciates hearing.

I'd be curious to see if any hearing people here feel they've experienced reverse-audism and explain how so.
 
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