Deaf Culture Analysis

The inclusive nature of Deaf Culture On the night of October 14th myself and a group of students from Fordham headed into Manhattan in order to attend what we thought was going to be a slam poetry event. The event was being held at Nuyorican Poets Cafe; a reputable performance hub in the East Village. Once we were let into the event, the walkway into the cafe was extremely narrow and a tad overwhelming. People were everywhere; cramped, and clutching onto their drinks high above people’s heads to prevent spillage. Immediately to the right as I entered was a wooden bar top. which gave the space a very rustic feel. The walls were bare brick and covered with different graffiti style canvases. These two elements made the cafe feel cool and individualized,

One aspect of the event that I thought was very unique was the overall atmosphere of inclusivity. Usually, in events that I have been to similar to this, people kept to themselves and stayed within their respective groups. Instead, people at this event were overwhelmingly open to interacting with people outside of their immediate circle. I inferred that in daily life many people who are deaf and communicate through ASL often feel discluded from English-speaking people. Furthermore, in an environment where people were consciously aware of the ASL community and are open to learning, like the ASL slam, the deaf people concluded that certain stigmas associated with them were not present and therefore they were able to communicate without fear. In other cultures there is often an mindset of exclusivity. In contrast, in deaf culture, I observed an openness to extending information and learning no matter the person’s background, age, ethnicity, or prior experience with deaf culture. This is displayed through the variety of people attending the event. In order to tackle the misconceptions often associated with the deaf, such as being less intelligent than hearing individuals, this openness is necessary to combat