Deaf Representation - Blog Posts
a sign of affection media review: Deaf representation (under cut long lots of points to discuss)
a sign of affection is anime about a Deaf college student yuki.
they showed the sign language on screen most of the time characters were signing. (apparently creator worked with Deaf friend to make sure signs were accurate. don't know japanese or signed japanese so can't say if signing was correct.)
good depiction of hearing aids & auditory processing. when yuki wears her hearing aids she can hear some sounds but she can't tell where they are coming from & she has trouble identifying sounds (& sounds don't form words).
good respectful about yuki's voice. yuki character have voice actor narrate her thoughts & signs out loud but yuki doesn't speak. she explains one point she copy people's mouth shape learn to speak but she has deaf accent. she only uses voice with her family.
okay with lip reading depiction. don't know if japanese is easier to lipread than english. but yuki mainly understands others with lipreading only no sound cues. is only shown make mistakes or misunderstand few times. good job she can't lip read when character wears masks or mouth not in her sight line.
sad there is not more sign. for having multiple Deaf & signing characters, not much sign language presence. even when talk to yuki characters know sign language not always sign to her. also usually talk to her instead of write . burden is on yuki for communication. also even yuki not sign very much usually type on phone or gesture.
which relate to next point: not good Deaf community representation. yuki went to Deaf school & has Deaf friends but hardly ever see her Deaf friends & her interact with Deaf community.
she in mainstream college setting no interpreter . all hearing friends now & again communicate way is most convenient for them. yuki not participate in conversations a lot & nearly always hear from yuki is just internal monologue. Deaf character is isolated.
one more thing yuki infantilized. she is shorter than most other characters include other girl characters (on its own not problem just how fit into whole character). have a signing character say Deaf people should not go out into college/hearing world & should be kept safe, & same character intervenes in situations involving Deaf characters without their permission. (think that character overall shown as be negative behavior though.)
last point: captions. maybe just version i watch but subtitles only translation of the spoken japanese. no caption for sound effects/music which ironic given is show about Deaf character. think would be accessible to Deaf audience especially when sounds sometimes important to scene.
overall: cute story, okay representation. probably made for hearing audience. definite things would like to see handle better but pretty good overall.
They slipped an F-Bomb into Supernatural and I’m dying 😂🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂
Sam attempts to sign “Thank you,” but his hand goes under his chin (which is a common mistake) and he accidentally signed “F*ck you!”
Deaf Representation in Media (Image Description Included)
Full Disclosure, I am a Hearing woman so all information in these slides are from online Deaf resources (I linked below), but if anything is inaccurate or needs tweaking please let me know! I’ve also never written out the Image Descriptions so please let me know if I need to fix anything!
[ID 1: Four hands using ASL to spell out “Deaf.” The background has various still images of people signing “I love you,” Fingerspelling “Hawkeye,” and a title card from a show reading “The Boy from 6B.”
Then reads “Representation in Media” / end ID1]
[ID 2: Stock Photo of mother and child with Hearing Aids.
There is a statistical chart in the bottom left corner that reads “New Study of Hearing Loss among US adults aged 20 to 69. Who has hearing loss? 14% of adults aged 20-69 in 2011-2012. Prevalence of hearing loss has declined slightly from about 16% in 1999-2004.”
The caption around the picture reads “What is Representation? Representation is the portrayal of another culture or people/person in media that is done respectfully and not stereotyped.
Why is Deaf representation so important? Approximately 48 million Americans have some degree of hearing loss (Hearing Loss Association of America). Good Deaf and Hard of Hearing Representation can be very validating to those in the community because they can see themselves in these characters. Accurate representation can be educational for people outside the Deaf community to learn more about it in a non-stereotyped way.” / end ID 2]
[ID 3: Photo of the National Association of the Deaf logo.
The caption over the logo reads “ According to the National Association for the Deaf (NDA) proper media portrait of deafness should include:
The production should be accessible. Clear cooperation between Deaf individuals and all media personnel, interpreters, etc.
All terminology, when referring to Deaf or Hard of Hearing people, should be up-to date and not offensive.
All descriptions of Deaf individuals should be based on the people’s personalities and not be patronizing by including terms like they are “overcoming,” “inspiring,” “special,” etc.
Media should listen to the knowledge and ideas from those in the Deaf or Hard of Hearing communities, and not from those outside the community (even if meant well).
Media should make conscious steps to work with the other groups a Deaf individual might be part of such as other cultures, religions, ethnicities, sexualities, etc.
All media should be made accessible and available for all Deaf and Hard of Hearing folks.
/End ID 3]
[ID 4: In the Background is the poster for the movie “Coda.” Four people are looking into the camera and holding up the sign for “I love you.”
The caption over the poster reads “Recently, there has been an increase in the general public’s interest in Deaf stories with the success of the Movie “CODA” (2021)... But we still have a long way to go with Deaf Rep…” /end ID 4]
[ID 5: The image shows two sheets taken from the Deaf West theater. One shows What TV genres see the most and least Deaf representation? While the other is on what types of Deaf characters have hearing audiences seen represented in media.
At the top the caption reads “According to NRG and the Deaf West Theater…”
The caption below the charts reads “Depending on the type or genre of media an individual consumes may determine how much exposure they get to seeing Deaf people represented.
Even within the already small portion of Deaf people represented, there are even smaller subsections of minorities shown less in the Media.” /end ID 5]
[ID 6: The screen shot is of the NRG webpage article “NRG and Deaf West Theatre release roundtable film on Deaf representation”
The caption above the image reads “Linked below is a video from NRG and The Deaf West Theater where they are interviewing Deaf people in the creative industry (Writers, directors, actors, ect.) talking about their experiences with and the state of Deaf representation in today’s media. https://www.nrgmr.com/our-thinking/entertainment/nrg-and-deaf-west-theatre-release-roundtable-film-on-deaf-representation/” /end ID 6]
[ID 7: Caption at the top reads “Good examples of Deaf representation!”
Below we have pictures of 4 different Deaf characters. On the top left is Theo from Only Murders in the Building. Top right is Jackie from Craig of the creek. Bottom left is Marvel comics Hawkeye. And on the bottom left is Daphne from Switched at birth. /end ID 7]
[ID 8: Caption at the top reads “My personal favorite… Linda Bove (Sesame street from 1971-2002)”
Below the caption are 16 pictures of Linda throughout her time while on sesame street. Mostly she is with her co-star Bob. /end ID 8]
Resources: