Is ASL gender-biased? : a study of whether deaf school children can recognize gender-bias in their language
Year: 1990
Type: dissertation
Abstract: A m e rica n Sign Lan gu age in e ffo rts to d e te rm in e if s c h o o l-a g e d e a f ch ild re n w e re re ce p tive to g e n d e r bias and w ould re cognize such in th e ir sig n language.S u b je cts w ere show n a five m inute vid eo th a t e xh ib ite d e ither a m ale or a fe m a le s ig n e r s ig n in g tw e lv e e s s a y s in A m e ric a n S ign L a n g u a g e .S u b je c ts th e n g a v e th e ir in te rp re ta tio n s o f e s s a y s by re sp o n d in g to a g e n d e r b ia s q u e s tio n n a ire th a t a ske d th e s u b je c ts th e ir o p in io n s o f how th e e s s a y s w e re s ig n e d .A n o th e r q u e s tio n n a ire w a s a d m in is te re d to d e te rm in e th e s u b je c ts ' a ttitu d e s to w a rd w o m e n (A W S sca le ).A fina l q u e s tio n n a ire w a s u se d to g a th e r d e m o g ra p h ic in fo rm a tio n a nd to a sce rta in if the su b je cts knew the pu rp o se o f th e study.A n a lysis re vealed th a t the su b je cts are c o n s e rv a tiv e in th e ir view s to w a rd w o m e n.The fe m a le su b je cts w e re m ore c o n s e rv a tiv e than th e ir m ale d e a f c o u n te rp a rts .R e sults a lso show th a t issuin g the AW S S cale p rio r to v ie w in g th e v id e o ta p e d id s e n s itiz e th o s e s u b je c ts to the g e n d e r-b ia s scale.This study indicates that the use of sexism in Am erican Sign Language is e v id e n t in th e d e a f s u b je c ts : h o w e ve r, th e d e m o g ra h ic q u e s tio n n a ire d o e s n o t show th a t the su b je cts are a w a re th a t they respond to g en d e r bias in th e ir language.Q uestions are raised a bo u t the use of sexism being fostered by the D eaf's concepts o f men and w om en's roles.Suggestions are inclu d e d to help reduce the D eaf's need to d iffe re n tia te betw een the sexes in o ccu p a tio ns.F urther research needs to be con du cted to find the factors th a t c a u s e c o n s e rv a tis m in th e d e a f, in c o m p a ris o n to th e ir hea ring c o u n te rp a r ts .
Source: The Mathematics Enthusiast
Author: Rebecca Anne McIntosh
Institution: University of Montana
Language: English
Topic: Gender Studies in Language
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2470747732