Mairian,
I think I can paraphrase your point succinctly by saying that you worry
that I pay too much attention to Deafness and accept the claim made by Deaf
activists that their subject position is radically different from PWD's.
If you look at Enforcing Normalcy carefully (and I say that because you
have in one of your articles misquoted me quite egregiously--a fact you
admitted to me in a private correspondence but not publically) you will see
that I wrote on p. xiv
"While I honor that argument [that some Deaf people do not believe they are
'disabled'] I still see the political benefits of linking deafness to
disability. I would never say that a Deaf person and a paraplegic were the
same. They are not. But to the ableist majority, they may be. In
wiriting this book, I think I can make important parallels with other
disabilities by talking about deafness. However, I am acutely aware that
while one can capitalize *deaf*, one cannot capitalize *disabled*. to be
culturally Dea is a reality; to be culturally Disabled is at this point [in
1995] perhaps only a Utopian wish that is gaining ground. It is not my aim
to insult the Deaf by saying they are people with disabilities; rather I
wish to explore how people with disabilities, at the risk of insulting
everyone perhaps, can be Disabled. so when I speak of disability, I may
influce Deafness within that category, although I willtake pains to
separate the Def experience from that of people with other disabilities."
I think that statement explains my position quite adequately.
Best,
Lennard J. Davis
Graduate Director
Deparment of English
Binghamton University
Binghamton, NY 13902
607-777-2770 Fax: 777-2408
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