DEAF interracial relationships

I'm doing research on deaf people and interracial relationships for my senior capstone project. It has to be finished by the end of April, so I have plenty of time .

I know there's a lot of things published on interracial relationships in general and people's attitudes towards such coupling... but there's not really anything out there on deaf people's attitudes towards interracial relationships.

My thought process behind this is basically relating to deviance, and people's willingness to be labeled a deviant. Research has shown that when people are very close to what society deems "normal", they'd do whatever they could to keep it that way. In terms of what normal is, I'd say that wealthy, white, non-disabled men are normal... this is because for the most part, they're the ones that create policies and do not experience inequality. (for non-white people, there's race inequality. For women of any race, there's gender inequality. For those who make less money, there's income inequality).

Most of us aren't close to normal for one reason or another, but still strive to get as close as possible. The main way for that, is through money, I think. Regardless of race or gender, money often means power. Due to attempts at getting as close as possible to social norms, interracial relationships are "different", and those that could be called "normal" may not partake for the sake of normalcy.

There was this article in a book for one of my classes last year, talking of how between a rich family with a disabled child and a family in poverty with a disabled child... the family in poverty is more accepting of the disability than the rich family as the rich family felt that stigma had a larger impact.

Society views deaf people as disabled, so deaf people are deviant in that sense. I'm thinking that because a deaf person is already deviant because of their hearing status, they might be more willing to participate in interracial relationships.





I'm curious though, what y'all think of this. I've been throwing the idea around in class, but there's only 4 other people in it, 2 of which as stereotypical jocks ... want some real thoughts/opinions lol

Do you think it's actually worth researching?

And, do you think a person's hearing status could impact their attitude towards interracial relationships (and participating in them)?



(Sorry for writing a "book", but it helps to answer questions if you know the intentions and all.)

 

Unless you can run a study it doesny sound worth while. You need a lot of sources and unfortunately there doesnt seem to be many

 

Planning to keep the sample size small, Gallaudet and the DC area... not just the people actually IN interracial relationships, but everyone. If they're not, can still see how they feel about such relationships.

 

no such thing as normal....hell there are "normal" people all fucked up

 

I've always felt people disabled in whatever type of way would be more open to IR than their "normal" counterparts. I feel like when your disabled, your dating pool is limited because alot of people don't want to deal with a person's with disabilities so the disabled become more open with other races. On top of that, I feel the disabled feels "different" already so there atittude is I don't care what anyone thinks I'm going to do what makes me happy.

 

I did some research... so lets say the point is

"I'm thinking that because a deaf person is already deviant because of their hearing status, they might be more willing to participate in interracial relationships"

You can make a research to see your thesis is confirmed or not, but maybe you could involve other kind of "disabilities" to make it wider and fit that "deviant" part? Or you're interested in deaf people specifically?

I think it's a very specific topic.

Good luck!

 

You perfectly expressed my thoughts. Maybe that is a starting point Nicole, but I'd make it with more disabilities. Ex: deaf, mutism, wheelchair... (not blindness because it takes out the looks that are important in this topic!)

 

Thanks for the comments Arwen!
I'm interested in deaf people specifically, and attend a university that has a little over 1,500 people... about 95% of the students are deaf. So, while it'd more likely be a study of the attitudes of deaf college students towards IR relationships, it's better than the "nothing" that's out there.

It has to be able to be completed by May, so it has to be kept specific enough to actually be finish-able. I am curious about the general disability community's viewpoint too, but that'd be too much to finish for May.

 

I think it's an individual matter , If a deaf person is having trouble getting dates , they might think to expand their options , this goes from race ,appearance of looks , body weight ,etc . or sometimes thats just what they
are attracted to .you never know . example: it's a common misconception that black men date "fat" whitewomen because they want to be with a white girl so bad . The truth , some black men are attracted to big white women ,thats it ,period, no other reason. society likes to impose their opinion.
so they can sleep better at night .
on the other hand ,does a disadvantage force someone to change your ways?
Lets say you had a pretty face , and you like being with other good looking people . then you got in an accident ,now your face is disfigured .
i thinks your friends will change and you will be more accepting of people as well.
I think you should do a research of how many non deaf vs deaf would get in a
interracial relationship . that might reveal something.maybe it will show that
it doesn't matter.

you said you've dated non deaf guys before .... how did that go . how were you able to communicate ? what where some of the issues if any ?
(besides family members not liking you)
you have sparked my interest a little in deaf women , u see i'm not good at talking to women ,not good at talking at all (as in small talk ) sometimes i don't like talking at all (especially on the phone). with a deaf women i don't
have to come up with something witty to say every 30 seconds .
just thinking out loud ,i don't mean to offend anyone ,if they are offended.
but i don't know any deaf women or see any ,so must be a very low percentage i'm thinking .

 

Welcome to the forums, you'll find all the ladies here are cool as a fan, especially Nicole

 

Welcome to the forum, teddebear!

Thanks for such a lengthy response I especially like the question that I've made bold. Very good question, makes sense and I haven't thought of it that way! *writes down*.

When I date non-deaf guys, communication isn't a problem really. The last non-deaf guy I've dated, we were together for 2 years, and he's never learned sign language or anything like that. I can talk, and I guess it just became a habit, because why would someone go out of their way to learn another language when they can already communicate with someone in their own first language?
The only real issue was with family members not liking me (then again, that was my first "real" boyfriend... awhile ago ). Back then, I wasn't secure with my deaf identity and all that... now I just look at it like, "if you don't like the fact I'm deaf, see ya!". To me, being deaf is the biggest part of who I am and I wouldn't want to change that.

Deaf/hearing relationships in general, sometimes an issue comes up where a deaf person can call out to the hearing person to get them to come to them. I know a few deaf people that married hearing people... they have this agreement where the deaf person cannot call out to the hearing person, because it gives them an unfair advantage over the hearing person that cannot call out to the deaf person.

Aww, north... . If I'm cool as a fan, you're cooler than an ice cube

 

thank you for the warm welcome even though you'll are so cool.

so you can talk ? how ? you can't hear yourself ....
were you born deaf or you became deaf later on?
how do you feel the music when you do the sign language to it ?
so do you read lips ? that's how you have a conversation ?
just wondering .

 

Your cooler than an iceberg in Antarctica, top that punk

 

I lost my hearing when I was 6... hit my head off a wall, like the klutz I am, lol. I already learned to talk before becoming deaf and my parents refused to learn sign, which kept me talking.

For the music... I hear it enough to be able to follow it. I pick the songs I can follow easiest (And, the ones that are easier to sign... because some can be quite complicated to change to sign language). For the most part, they're songs I've listened to a lot and know by heart. If I know a song by heart and I know it's currently playing, I can follow along... but any old random song on the radio, I can listen to and enjoy, but will not understand the actual words.

I've actually made a journal entry on this a few days ago, this might explain it better, especially towards the end. http://quietnotsilent.livejournal.com/5400.html

Lipreading depends on the person. The people I can lipread the easiest are my parents and my sister. There's family friends that have been in my life for 10+ years, yet I still cannot lipread them. Sometimes I just need to get used to someone, sometimes it's nearly a lost cause. And sometimes, like I found out recently, some people are nearly instantly easy to lipread

Top that? Okay, hmm. How about just planting this mental image... ice cubes and naked skin... :smt077

 

Well fuck me, that was totally unexpected you win. rayer: excuse me while i shower, cool journal by the way. Your latest asl song is your best so far.

 

so i read you live journal , alot of stuff . so you can hear a little ,with the help of hearing aids . then you can take the hearing aids out when you decide you don't want to hear anymore .
sounds like your not happy that your parents didn't make an effort to learn sign language . have they seen your journal ?
I see you like csi ,one of my favorite shows . on the show grissom's ex girlfriend was deaf and he knew sign language . did you see that episode?
what do you think about the new csi show with ted danson ?

 

Time to start thinking of questions for my survey and whatever for this project, hmmmm-ies.

I've come to terms with my parents not making an effort to learn, in a sense. I understood why they didn't.. and then later after I figured out what it really "meant" to be deaf, I wish they learned. It's okay though, they were acting on what they thought was best.

CSI's cool, I seen that episode yes. I was watching it with some hearing people, and they asked me to tell them what was being said . Haven't been watching it lately though, guess I'll have to.

 

you need to come up with the subject matter first .
is it deaf vs non deaf willing to be in an interracial relationship ?
is it normal vs disadvantage willing to date interracially .
is it about dating anyone or just about race ?
what is the study ? what are you trying to find out ?

 

Trying generally to see if deaf are more willing than non-deaf to be involved with an interracial relationship. Thinking of questions is the fun part.... lit reviews are not

 

what's lit reviews ?

ok , here is my opinion . you "must" disguise the survey .
Just have them believe it's a dating survey .
people don't want to be seen as racist ! even though not wanting
to date outside your race is not racist . people don't want to be judged .
make a survey on paper for them to fill out then have a box with a hole in it.
for them to drop it in (insuring no one knows what they filled out including you)
ex: say its a dating survey to see whats the ideal date people want.
you would have regular dating questions on there (seen on dating sites)
plus your own made up questions that's intended for your research.

If you confront people with racial questions , they are going to tell you what
sounds good(or what reads good ,hehe joke) . Or you can take a chance and tell them the truth behind your research ,and tell them it's important that they be totally honest .

sometimes when you want the truth ,you can't ask for it directly.
you must let it reveal it's self.

another thing , alot of people don't consider white/asian , white/latino
interracial relationships . only when it involves black .
that's some people anyway .

ok example : Hi , would you like to take a survey about interracial dating?

Hi , would you like to take a survey about dating ?

which question will get more willing truthful participants ?