Welcome to Episode 1 of Enlighten Me. As you've no doubt come to expect by now, even this series is mostly about me.
I envisage Enlighten Me as something like a mini online Jerry Springer where I say or ask something stupid and a panel of people I know and some I don’t get to laugh or yell at me (possibly even punch me, cyberly-speaking – not sure what that looks like, but I can’t wait to find out!), then some experts come in and tell me what’s what, I become ‘enlightened’, Jerry congratulates us all, we all feel warm and fuzzy, and it all ends with Jerry summing things up in a few nauseatingly twee words (note: in this version, I get to play both myself and Jerry. Because it’s my blog).
Now, I know there are things I don’t know. Someone famous also said something like that once. Some people struggle to admit this to themselves and to others. Fortunately or otherwise, I’m not one of those people. I can even admit there are some things I don’t know I don’t know. Rad, huh?
So there are some things I know I don’t know that I know I have no interest in knowing. For example, you may find that aspect of me unattractive. I don’t know... and I don’t care. There are other things I know I don’t know that I really want to do something about. Maybe they happen to be things you don’t know and always wanted to know, too. Which would be awesome because it means I can cast this whole thing in a light of providing a community service. I enjoy thinking of myself as philanthrope. Perhaps that’s how Jerry gets to sleep at night, too.
Feel free to nominate other things you know you don’t know that you would like to know more about. PM me with them if you’re shy and/or don’t want to look like a wanker.
And until next time, take care of yourselves... and each other.
*****
So here we go. Bear with me – the big question is soon revealed (you just scrolled down. Didn't you? Admit it). Allow me to first establish a few Facts (just easing you into the whole apparently-random-but-actually-meaningful capitalisation thing), in no particular order and mostly about me, for context:
Fact 1. As some of you know, I am currently a student, not just of life, but also of audiology. You may be surprised to learn that audiology is not just a clinical thing, but like you will have seen with medicine on Grey’s Anatomy, actually has heaps of real life-type shit happening inside and alongside it. For the most part, I’m loving studying audiology. But sometimes, I get myself a bit quagmired in some of the ‘real life’ aspects of it. Let’s face it, I’m not always the best-equipped person you know when it comes to understanding and dealing with real life shit.
Fact 2. As some of you are also aware, I don’t have a father. Of course I have a biological father (although I and others have often had cause to suspect I was dropped onto Earth from the planet Zork or something – to be completely honest, I sometimes wish they would hurry and fetch me home), but I never knew him, and grew up with just me and my mum (underrating for the moment and for the sake of clarity the enormous input of my ‘second parent’, my maternal grandmother). Sometimes people say things about single-parent families and the kids of single-parent families, and sometimes the things they say hurt. Sometimes the things they say, in my personal experience, are wildly inaccurate, and I can only surmise that these comments stem from ignorance and possibly arrogance in assuming that they themselves are (1) 100% awesome and well-adjusted and, (2) that (1) is all to do with being raised in a family with a mum and a dad. Yup. Feel free to go for gold on that one, folks.
This Fact may seem to you like a total red herring, but I think its important in establishing where I’m coming from here (planet Zork?), and relates in some esoteric way to Fact 4, below. At least, to my only-child-of-a-single-parent-family mind.
Fact 3. I love music. I have always loved music. Of pretty much all kinds (go ahead - challenge me on that). Many – I would even go so far as to say all – of my friends love music. Granted, not always the same type of music... but the principle stands. Almost all of the people I know, love music. It uplifts us and/or assists us to wallow more effectively in self-pity when we’re feeling down. It unites and sometimes divides us. We play it at events and on important life occasions. All that good stuff. On another note (haha), I’d love to read more of your thoughts on what music means to/does for you... as a musician/DJ/listener/educator, etc.
Fact 4. I don’t want to be one of those dickhead audiologists we sometimes hear about in class and may even see on our clinical placements. You know (or perhaps you don’t), the ones who don’t acknowledge and respect other peoples’ experiences (both positive and negative) of what it might be like to live as a Deaf person, be an active parent or child of a Deaf person, or otherwise be a member of the (a?) Deaf community, and may therefore inadvertently – as a result of this ignorance – contribute to the belittling of Deaf people and the overstating of the role of audiologists and other clinical ‘experts’ in the lives of Deaf people. I don’t think any of my classmates want to be either. Shame on those medical and allied health practitioners, I say, for not making the effort to find out more (or perhaps, bully for them, for being so arrogant and happy with themselves in their ignorance +/- empathy-deficit).
So is this whole ‘Deaf-with-a-capital-D’ thing irritating you yet? I’m still getting used to it myself. So why am I persisting with it? When I use the word ‘Deaf’ here, with the capital D, I am referring to people who actively identify with and participate in “the Deaf community” (I can’t help but draw possibly unwanted and inappropriate parallels with identifying oneself as a member of the “queer community”. It seems to me the principle of ‘reclaiming’ a term that may have been or is still used in a derogatory way in general society might be at play. Or perhaps my Zork is showing).
And herein lies the rub. It's coming. This is just the bit before I ask the question where I feel extra stupid and ignorant and hesitant. I don’t (currently) know any real life Deaf people. This may be (dare I use the adverb, 'blindingly'?) obvious by now. I have read (some of) Harlan Lane’s extremely interesting and apparently insightful (understatement of the year) work exploring and examining the Deaf community. So far in my reading, I haven’t stumbled across an answer to a question that arises close to my heart. So Deaf people and friends of Deaf people, I need your help (and welcome gentle or less gentle rebuttals to anything I have written). In a spirit of wanting, even needing, some insight – which I hope you feel is a worthwhile, even noble pursuit – while understanding that everyone’s experience is personal and no-one can truly speak on behalf of any other individual (probably not even Harlan), and with me sitting in this sometimes uncomfortable space where the professional meets the personal, I respectfully put to you the following set of questions:
Does music have a place in the Deaf community?
If so, what is the nature and extent of that role? I realise vibrations can be sensed with other parts of the body (as we know, this ability is useful in other ways, too)... but are there additional ways for a profoundly and, let’s say for the sake of example, congenitally deaf person to perceive music? The human mind/body is pretty amazing (second understatement of the year), so it wouldn’t surprise me in the least (or perhaps a little, but in a good way) if there is.
If not, does it matter?
A simple yes or no to any of the above is fine. And I apologise profusely if I’ve upset anyone. And even more if I’ve made a complete wanker of myself. But I really want to know... you know? There is only so much you can learn from Google and academic texts. I would love if you could take the time to write a little more – be that through tears of laughter and/or anger and exasperation – and Enlighten Me.
References and further reading:
A Journey Into the Deaf-World by Harlan Lane, Robert Hoffmeister and Ben Bahan. DawnSignPress, 1996.
http://harlan-lane.co.tv/
