In what comes as a shock to no one, Brad and I have a difference of opinion.
This time, it concerns our personal feelings about the graphic novel, El Deafo, by Cece Bell – a loosely based biographical account of her own experiences navigating the world whilst wearing hearing aids.
Brad has mostly positive feelings about it, though he has revised his initial thoughts a bit since his initial reading of the book some years back. You can read his review here: https://bradmckenna.wordpress.com/2024/12/09/bookreview-el-deafo-revisited/
I continue to refuse to even consider reading that book due to the word “Deafo” being one of several cruel insults lobbed in my direction by ignorant children during my elementary school years. I am not easily triggered by much, but the childhood bullying I endured was significant and has carried healed and hidden scars throughout adulthood. I will be sharing my story with all of you when the time feels right – but in the meantime, if you were cruel to someone whose body worked differently than your own I request that you take a reflective moment to explore why you did it – and then take a pause to acknowledge that your decisions may have caused long-lasting, hidden pain.
The original post is as follows, and my steadfast refusal remains the same:
I Can’t Read That Book (Original Post) – March 2021
The graphic novel, “El Deafo”, by Cece Bell is a loosely based biographical account of her own experiences as a Deaf person – published in 2014, this tome took the book world by storm. This book was everywhere – on shelves, on display in libraries, in the arms of children and adults alike.
And I had to hear about it. Constantly.
I have spoken about this theme before – that every time someone with a hearing loss does something that a typical, intact person has done before them – it is An Event. A cause for celebration, a rallying and victorious cry in support of The Deaf Person That Did A Thing!
And I have to hear about it. Constantly.
This book was no different, and I remain unwavered in my refusal to read this book. There are a myriad of reasons, but in summation I break it down for you here:
It is a single source, a biographical retelling of one person’s experience with a hearing loss. A single source amidst an embarrassingly limited genre where the Deaf person is just a character in a story – as opposed to the “special friend” that everyone learns a lesson from, usually about resilience, courage, and perseverance.
It is not the all-encompassing Deaf Book of Secrets that some of you seem to think it is – and have treated it as such.
Able bodied people have single-handedly turned me off to this book by the following things that have been said to me since the book’s publication. We have discussed at length the power of words and that your intention may be one of passion, interest and kindness – but the impact of your words require careful and deliberate analysis before you share them.
In no particular order, I was on the receiving end of these comments:
- “The author is Deaf – and she REALLY captures the Deaf experience!”
(Umm..how do you know? Last I checked you could hear without adaptive equipment).
- “I think you will REALLY identify with this book!”
(Have you secretly been living my life right along with me for the past 46 years and I’m just finding out about it?)
- “Did you see this book? It is SO GREAT for kids to read and learn ALL ABOUT DEAF PEOPLE!”
(Again – alot wrong with this statement, with generalization and reduction of a wide variety of people with diverse experiences into a single source).
Lastly, I cannot get past the title. The term “Deafo” is to me an incredibly cruel, offensive, degrading, disrespectful and reductive term that was lobbed in my direction for most of Elementary school years by a group of students whose sole entertainment was singling out my “otherness” for their cruel pleasure. There is vast power in that word – and it is telling that some 40 years later, the scars I bear from those experiences still flare when I hear or see that word. Someday, when I am ready, I will explore this further in future blog posts – not today.
I appreciate your passion for this story and I am glad that you enjoyed it, maybe you learned a little something, and maybe you gained a new perspective. I ask that you remember well that it is a single source, and not a “catch all” of the experiences that those of us with hearing loss have faced.
And please don’t tell me about this book again…or that Heather Whitestone was the Deaf Miss America…or Nyle DeMarco was the Deaf Dancer on Dancing with the Stars…or that Linda Bove on Sesame Street was Deaf…or anything else that you come across – I got it.
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