16/05/2022
If you know, you know… For those who don’t know, Gloria is a Colombian woman in the story of Modern Family who marries Jay Pritchett, the rich old patriarch of a white American family. After six seasons of her accent being made fun of tirelessly, she has enough.
Many Deaf people may find themselves relating to Gloria where their spoken language is made fun of or critiqued to the point where their intellect is doubted. In Australia, Deaf people are judged upon their ability to speak English or their written English without recognition that they are bilingual and that their first language is Auslan. This is a global issue that Deaf people face where their ability to speak the spoken language used in their country is judged without any consideration of their first language that is sign language. This issue demonstrates Audism and the bias of English dominance globally.
The next time you judge a Deaf person’s English, ask yourself whether you’d like your Auslan to be judged.
NB: Sign language is not universal and different sign languages are used in different countries or regions. For example in Australia, England and the United States where the predominant language is English, they all have their own respective sign languages; Auslan, British Sign Language (BSL) and American Sign Language (ASL).
ID: Screenshot of dialogue of the Modern Family captioned that reads: Gloria - Do you know how frustrating it is to have to translate very thing in my head before I say it? To have people laugh in my laugh because I’m struggling to find the words? You should trying talking in my shoes for one mile. Jay - I think you meant…. Gloria- I know what I meant to mean. Do you know how smart I am in Auslan* (it was edited to read Auslan)? Of course you don’t.
