Synopses & Reviews
This new collection bridges two dynamic academic fields: Womenandrsquo;s Studies and Deaf Studies. The 14 contributors to this interdisciplinary volume apply research and methodological approaches from sociology, ethnography, literary/film studies, history, rhetoric, education, and public health to open heretofore unexplored territory.
and#160; and#160; and#160; and#160;Part One: In and Out of the Community addresses female dynamics within deaf schools; Helen Kellerandrsquo;s identity as a deaf woman; deaf womenandrsquo;s role in Deaf organizations; and whether or not the inequity in education and employment opportunities for deaf women is bias against gender or disability. Part Two: (Womenandrsquo;s) Authority and Shaping Deafness explores the life of 19th-century teacher Marcelina Ruis Y Fernandez; the influence of single, hearing female instructors in deaf education; the extent of womenandrsquo;s authority over oralist educational dictates during the 1900s; and a deaf daughterandrsquo;s relationship with her hearing mother in the late 20th century.
and#160; and#160; and#160; and#160;Part Three: Reading Deaf Women considers two deaf sistersandrsquo; exceptional creative freedom from 1885 to 1920; the depictions of deaf or mute women in two popular films; a Deaf womanandrsquo;s account of blending the public-private, deaf-hearing, and religious-secular worlds; how five Deaf female ASL teachers define andldquo;gender,andrdquo; andldquo;feminism,andrdquo; andldquo;sex,andrdquo; and andldquo;patriarchyandrdquo; in ASL and English; and 20th-century American Deaf beauty pageants that emphasize physicality while denying Deaf identity, yet also challenge mainstream notions of andldquo;the perfect body.andrdquo;
Synopsis
A collection of 14 scholars bridge two dynamic fields, Womenand#8217;s Studies and Deaf Studies, with various chapters on deaf women photographers, analysis of films with deaf women characters, the significance of deaf beauty pageants, and more.
About the Author
Brenda Jo Brueggemann is Associate Professor of English at Ohio State University in Columbus, OH.
Susan Burch is Professor of History at Gallaudet University, in Washington, DC.
Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction
Part One
In and Out of the Community
Editorsandrsquo; Introduction
Family Matters: Female Dynamics within Deaf Schools
Jessica Lee
Was Helen Keller Deaf? Blindness, Deafness, and Multiple Identities
Kim E. Nielsen
The Extended Family: Deaf Women in Organizations
Sara Robinson
Deaf Women and Inequality in Educational Attainment and Occupational Status: Is Deafness or Femaleness to Blame?
Sharon Barnartt
Part Two
(Womenandrsquo;s) Authority and Shaping Deafness
Editorsandrsquo; Introduction
Marcelina Ruiz Ricote y Fernandaacute;ndez: Nineteenth-Century Feminist Educator of Deaf and Blind Girls
Susan Plann
The Ladies Take Charge: Women Teachers in the Education of Deaf Students
Margret Winzer
andldquo;Like Ordinary Hearing Childrenandrdquo;: Mothers Raising Offspring according to Oralist Dictates
Emily K. Abel
Merging Two Worlds
Gina A. Oliva and Linda Risser Lytle
Part Three
Reading Deaf Women
Editorsandrsquo; Introduction
Deaf Eyes: The Allen Sistersandrsquo; Photography, 1885andndash;1920
Brenda Jo Brueggemann
The Aesthetics of Linguistic Envy: Deafness and Muteness in Children of a Lesser God and The Piano
Jennifer Nelson
andldquo;Slain in the Spiritandrdquo;
Kristen Harmon
How Deaf Women Produce Gendered Signs
Arlene Blumenthal Kelly
andldquo;Beautiful, though Deafandrdquo;: The Deaf American Beauty Pageant
Susan Burch
Bibliography
Contributors
Index