"BEING DEAF HAS VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH ONE'S EARS":
BOUNDARY-WORK IN THE DEAF CULTURE MOVEMENT

In this paper, using a social constructionist approach, I follow the boundary-work of advocates for Deaf Culture. I look at how these advocates work with collective representations to distinguish themselves from the disabled, erecting boundaries between themselves and (i) medicalized notions of disability, (ii) the blind, and (iii) the hearing impaired. I also look at rhetorically constructed hierarchies within the Deaf community, contextualizing the privileged status of: Deaf children of Deaf parents, native speakers of American Sign Language, and those politically committed to Deaf Culture. The struggle over collective representations and the meanings of Deaf and deafness is, like other such struggles, deeply political. At stake is the status of being Deaf in America: the distinction is between being perceived by the dominant hearing culture as disabled -- with its attendant stigmata and current political benefits -- versus being considered a cultural, ethnic, and linguistic minority group -- with its costs and benefits.