Page 112 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

American Deaf Culture 97

Sharing Personal Information
Certain topics are taboo in American hearing culture. I am not
only referring here to the famous threesome that polite people
are supposed to refrain from discussing at the dinner table: poli-
tics, sex, and religion. I am also thinking of such topics as money,
the graphic details of sickness and death, and bathroom habits.
None of these seem to carry a similar prohibition in Deaf culture.
On the contrary, perhaps it is the general reticence of the hearing
majority to discuss these aspects of life, coupled with the value
placed on clear and direct communication in Deaf culture, that
makes these topics seem to crop up so often in Deaf conversa-
tions.
Mainstream Americans are very circumspect when it comes
to talking about money. Many other cultures (Israeli, Thai, and
Filipino, for example) find nothing wrong in asking people how
much money they earn a year or how much they paid for their
dress, TV, car, or house. In Deaf culture, too, such questions are
another way to gather important information. How can one get a
good deal on a car if one has no basis for comparison? Probably
more than advertisements, magazine articles, or expert opinion,
Deaf people look to each other for input about what to buy and
where to buy it. There are also tales of warning to be shared: how
not to get taken advantage of by unscrupulous salespersons and
accounts of Deaf people who were unwittingly pressured into sign-
ing on the dotted line without realizing what the small print on
the contract committed them to pay.
Clear descriptions of bodily functions do not seem to embar-
rass Deaf people the way they do hearing Americans. A touching
example is the story of a high school sex education teacher who
traveled to different schools in her district. She noticed a distinct
difference in reaction when she lectured on the subject of circum-
cision to Deaf and hearing classes of high school boys. In hearing
schools, the boys would become very quiet, while eyeing each
other in embarrassment. In the Deaf school, by contrast, the boys
would immediately address each other directly on the subject: “I
am. Are you?”
I have heard complaints from Deaf people who think that in-
terpreters allow their own reluctance to describe things graphi-
cally to interfere with clear communication. If a doctor, for ex-
ample, inquires about a Deaf patient’s recent bowel movements,

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