Teresa Garratty: Those exploiting deafness in the arts need to look at themselves

Not to sound ungrateful, but this article is probably gonna make me seem…ungrateful.

Oh well! You can’t win ’em all, especially when the subject matter is misinterpreted, which on the internet happens at least…nearly all the friggin’ time. Unfortunately for you lot, The Chicken pays me to have an opinion, so lets get to it!

It ain’t always easy being a deafie, is it? I mean that’s why we have to make adjustments, fight for access and strive for accurate representation amongst other things.

So it’s always nice to know that there are people out there willing to help and support you in your deaf endeavours, especially when that help comes from well-connected hearies who are more then happy to use their privileges in the fight against inequality and injustice.

Sounds magical doesn’t it? Hearies and deafies, skipping merrily alongside on a journey to make the world a better place. Nothing wrong with that right? Except, when you look closely, sometimes there is.

This isn’t just my own bitter, twisted, cynical view by the way (I asked around, I even asked happy people), this is definitely a thing and I see it everywhere.

I’m talking about exploitation. People who say they’re onside and want to support deaf people achieve their goals but actually end up taking away from them.

Let me give you some real life examples from my own personal experience.

Take the acting world for example, how many times have we seen able-bodied actors taking on the roles of deaf characters to “raise awareness”.

Want to know what would really make people aware? How about the audience actually see some deaf people on the big screen with their own eyeballs?

Maybe it’s just because I work in this industry but I’m always very wary of people who suddenly want to highlight the plight of deaf people by writing a story with one minor deaf character, hiring a fully hearing film crew and then sneaking in a cheeky lead role for themselves.

You know what would really help deaf people? Letting THEM play characters with range and depth, hiring THEM as film crew, letting THEIR work speak for itself.

I don’t think I can put into words how frustrating it is to see hearing people ride into the limelight on the coattails of deaf people, time and time again. All the while spouting about how “incredibly honoured” they are to “show their support” and work with such talented “blah blah blah.”

If you really are honoured, if you truly do believe in the talents of deaf people, then let us speak for ourselves. Let us show the world what we’re capable of and what we can achieve. By all means, show love and support, but do it from the wings and give us back our platform.

Are you offended by that? Are you shouting “How dare you ask for my love and support without sharing the spotlight?!” at your computer/phone/tablet. If you are, then you’re only proving my point further.

Since I don’t have a death wish, I’m obviously not going to directly point any fingers, but if you’ve been exploiting the deaf world for your own gain then I implore you to think VERY carefully about how and if you’re actually helping deaf people.

Did you set up a company to include deaf people, or did it just enable you to achieve your own career goals?

Are you really including sign language in your play because you believe in the fight against language deprivation, or does it just look good on your Arts Council England application?

Are you really providing work for deaf professionals who struggle to find opportunities, or are you letting your boyfriend/girlfriend/BFF/neighbour’s cat have the work instead? Are you really a true ally? Or are you actually a false one?

What makes this worse is that it’s not just hearing people that do this either, we do it to each other too. Hell, I might even have been guilty of it in the past but I now make a very conscious effort to support my fellow deafies where I can.

If I need to hire a cast or crew, deaf people are my first port of call. Not because I believe in handing things out on a silver platter to any old deaf Tom, Dick or Harry but because I know there are deaf people out there, more than capable, incredibly talented and patiently waiting on the sidelines to be given a chance.

If we can’t do that for each other, then what hope do we have of the rest of the world following suit?

Maybe you’re reading this and thinking “Oh ho! I know what that’s about!” or “Hold on a minute, is she talking about me?!” and maybe you’re very angry about being called out, but once that anger has subsided, maybe it’s time for some people to look in the mirror and ask themselves: When it comes to supporting deaf people and making the world a more deaf friendly place, am I really working towards solving the problem? Or am I part of it?

I might have ruffled a few feathers today (chicken pun, fully intended) but hopefully it will make people think about their intentions in the future…or maybe there’ll be even less opportunities because I made everyone angry and ruined everything.

Ah well, at least it wasn’t an article about Brexit!

Read more of Teresa’s posts (with cartoons!) by clicking here.

Teresa is a freelance film maker, photographer and full time cynic. At school, she was voted “Most likely to end up in a lunatic asylum”, a fate which has thus far been avoided. Her pet hates are telephones, intercoms and all living things. Follow her on Twitter as @TGarratty