[nabs-l] Blindness versus other minority groups

[Marc Workman]

Carly wrote,
How can facial expressions and other body language convey meaning if they are not naturally, ocuring? For this reason I don't see a reason to sort of put on nonverbal, expression if, behind it there is little, meaning?

I want to take Carly's point further and suggest that pressuring blind people to look and act like others is in itself wrong.  I'm not suggesting there is no value to it, nor am I saying it should never be done, but it makes me uncomfortable.

The subject of this thread is comparing blindness to other minorities.  I think there's a parallel between pressuring blind people to look and act like everyone else and things that some minorities used to do and still do for similar reasons.  In the past, among African Americans, there existed the practice of skin bleaching and hair straightening for the purpose of appearing less black and/or more white.  I can't give evidence to show how common this was, but Malcolm X talked about trying to remove the kink from his hair himself and finding it a physically and emotionally painful process.  There are also surgeries performed to give people of East Asian descent more "white looking" eyes and Jews more "white looking" noses.  These are just a couple of examples.  Pressuring minorities to adopt the dominant group's style of dress, gate, diction, body language, etc also often happens.

I hope we can agree that this is at the very least unfortunate.  There may be psychological and other explanations for why this occurs, but feeling pressured to get a nose job or to bleach your skin so that you look more like one particular group in society is problematic to say the least.  So what's the difference between these cases and pressuring a blind person to adopt the behavioural habits, facial expressions, body language etc of some sighted people?

You might say that we live in a sighted world and so we have to adapt.  There is something to this, but I wonder if it would be equally acceptable to say we live in a white-dominated world so non-whites have to adapt.  It may be the case that blind people who don't "look blind" are more successful and integrate better, and it also may be that non-whites who look and act white are more successful and integrate better, but in neither case is it just that the minorities need to assume the dominant groups characteristics in order to be successful.

What ultimately needs to happen is not that blind people begin to look and act like sighted people, but that we all become more accepting of differences that are arbitrary and irrelevant.  Most, if not all, so called blindisms are irrelevant, and I see no more reason to stamp them out than I do for trying to eliminate various differences in behaviour and appearance possessed by other minority groups.

Cheers,

Marc
On 2011-11-18, at 6:40 AM, Carly Mihalakis wrote:

> 
> 
> Good morning, Arielle,
> 
> I know I tend to use such gestures as a quick shrug of the shoulders to express nonchalantness since such a nonverbal expression seems to come naturally to me so I hope is somewhat believable. How can facial expressions and other body language convey meaning if they are not naturally, ocuring? For this reason I don't see a reason to sort of put on nonverbal, expression if, behind it there is little, meaning? What's the point? I Tara and all,
>> You make a good point about nonverbal communication. I agree that it
>> behooves us as blind people to actively use nonverbal communication to
>> express ourselves. However, I wonder how skilled someone can become at
>> this who has been totally blind since birth, even with practice. In
>> particular, I am thinking about deliberately using nonverbal signals
>> in emotional or stressful situations, like eye-rolling or looking
>> annoyed when a stranger says or does something obnoxious. I imagine we
>> can practice certain gestures or facial expressions, but would they
>> ever become automatic enough to appear without much conscious effort,
>> as they do for sighted people? Of course some things, like facing a
>> conversation partner, are easy and don't require much thought, but
>> other expressions are a lot more nuanced. I'm curious if any of you
>> who have always been blind really feel like you have developed good
>> control over your facial and body expressions, or if any of you have
>> made attempts to get better. I really do think that focused lessons
>> about body language should be taught to young blind children, but I
>> think that realistically, the task of getting someone who has always
>> been blind to adopt culturally shared facial expressions and gestures
>> routinely is a lot harder than just a simple explanation. Then again,
>> if this kind of education were treated like a dance or acting class,
>> with as much discipline and structure, maybe it could work.
>> Incidentally, I have noticed that if I find myself thinking about
>> something funny, I will pop a big smile and people will ask me what's
>> so funny. I'm curious if this happens to anyone else? I get the
>> impression that this doesn't happen to sighted people and I assume
>> that sighted people find themselves thinking about funny things too,
>> but that they just hide it better. Often I am so distracted by the
>> funny thought that I don't even realize I am grinning until my
>> attention is called to it. This is often quite awkward and
>> embarrassing, especially since most of the time, the funny thing I am
>> thinking about is just a stupid joke or something from a TV show and I
>> don't really feel like explaining it out loud. Can you think of a
>> graceful way to handle this, or to prevent it?
>> Best,
>> Arielle
>> 
>> On 11/15/11, Andi <adrianne.dempsey at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >      I agree nonverbal comunication is so very important and I think it
>> > should be included in the curriculum that VI's and training centers use, not
>> > only what we want to say but also avoiding the nonverbals that say what we
>> > do not want to say.  I use to work at a summer camp and I notice a big
>> > difference in the social lives of the blind kids and teens who had an
>> > understanding of nonverbal comunication versis the blind kids and teens who
>> > were not taught nonverbal comunication.  Part of the reason sighted people
>> > think so badly and incorrectly about the blind is because sometimes blind
>> > people do not allways look compatent even though they are.  I am not saying
>> > that all blind people look this way, nor am I saying that blind people who
>> > look compatent are never faulsly judged.  I know that the sighted are
>> > largely ignorent to the truthe about blind people, but I think blind people
>> > also need to present themselves in a way that portrays them how they want to
>> > be seen.  I know that you shouldn't care to much what other people think of
>> > you, because you can not please everyone, and you should always be true to
>> > yourself; however all people especially people who are already dealing with
>> > stigmas such as the blind should care to a sertain extent.
>> >      Many blind people have atrophy in the muscles in their face.  This
>> > means that many facial expressions are hard or in some cases impossible to
>> > make.  When people have a blank look on their face it looks to the sighted
>> > like there is nothing going on upstairs.  Even other sighted people get this
>> > blank look on their face sometimes but it is usually when they are dazing
>> > off or falling asleep.  When a person has that look all the time it looks to
>> > sighted people that the blind can not have an intelligent conversation
>> > because you can not talk to someone who is off in space.  Some Blind people
>> > go to physical tharipy to remedy this, but that is not necessary just some
>> > exercises at home can fix it.  Also eye contact is a big part of nonverbal
>> > comunication.  Many blind people keep their eyes closed, or look at the
>> > floor, or look up in the sky.  That to a sighted person shows disinterest,
>> > bordom, or again the off in space thing depending on the rest of your body
>> > language accompanying the lack of eye contact.  Even though we can not see
>> > the person we are talking to we should make eye contact.  Isms such as
>> > rocking, poking, spinning, or flicking, are not exceptable ever as this
>> > looks like a cognitive impairment.  At the camp their were blind kids with
>> > no other disability, and blind kids who also had cognitive impairments.  I
>> > had my sighted sister come to the camp and help teach a weekend dance camp
>> > as she is a very skilld dancer.  One teenager who is very smart by the way
>> > and has no other disabilities was rocking and poking while singing loudly at
>> > dinner.  My sister had not yet met him and asked me how old he was mentally.
>> > Once she met him and realized he was mentally a normal teen she felt bad for
>> > asking the question, but that is how the sighted world looks at isms. The
>> > placement of your hands is a simple but often socially faital thing if
>> > placed oddly.  Also the way a person stands or walks is importaint.  Many
>> > blind people move stiffly, I am not talking a robot, but still stif
>> > movements can tell a sighted person something you are not trying to say.
>> > Depending on what you are doing with the stiff movement you can look either
>> > angry, nervous, or mocking.  This is just the tip of the nonverbal icebirg,
>> > and it can make a huge difference in the way we as blind people are viewed.
>> >      Also you are right about understanding the body language of others, and
>> > even though we can not see it there are ways of telling what is being said
>> > silently.  Some actions make noise, while others have a different energy
>> > feel.  I was told that only 7 percent of all comunication is what a person
>> > says, 32 percent of all comunication is tone, and 61 percent of all
>> > comunication is nonverbal.
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: Tara Annis
>> > Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 10:20 AM
>> > To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> > Subject: [nabs-l] Blindness versus other minority groups
>> >
>> > I think the first step in helping blind people to get their feelings across
>> > to the sighted is  to understand what is considered ignorance and what is
>> > considered outright teasing and cruelty in public.  Many of the meanest
>> > things are just said with one word    and a lot of body language.  Many
>> > people who hate blind people speak in a nice manner, but  exhibit cruelty in
>> > their body language. I do think a lot of blind people, not all, but some, do
>> > lack discernment in this area, especially if they are blind from birth and a
>> > sighted person  does not take the time to explain nonverbal communication.
>> > I think the first step would be for an honest sighted person to follow a
>> > blind person around and interpret the visual elements to the blind person,
>> > so that the entire picture can be analyzed for both parties.  I think one of
>> > the best ways to respond to those who are ignorant, who are not attempting
>> > to be mean, but make offensive remarks is through body language, like
>> > rolling one's eyes.  Most sighted people use   nonverbal communication to
>> > show  when they are irritated by another person.  If the person continues to
>> > be annoying, the person will then use verbal communication.  That is why
>> > sighted people think blind are mean for actually verbally stating their
>> > anger, instead of visually displaying it.  I would like to see a class where
>> > advanced nonverbal communication is explained, since    currently it seems
>> > there are just the basics  taught, like  facing the person you are talking
>> > to and shaking hands. There is not a class in how to display   the various
>> > ways of shooing levels of discomfort, from   annoyed, slightly irritated,
>> > somewhat irritated, to angry. Blind people need to know that sometimes it is
>> > necessary to actively create facial expressions and body movements, as
>> > opposed to letting one's body language depict their true feelings.
>> > Personally, I was surprised at the amount of communication that is displayed
>> > nonverbally, that sighted people watch me from across a large college
>> > campus, or from way down the street, and are making judgments about me from
>> > my appearance. Once this was explained to me, I do feel that I am more
>> > comfortable around sighted people, and am  in   control of  getting my
>> > feelings across.  The great thing about learning all this stuff is that I
>> > have seen the amount of ignorance I faced by sighted people diminish
>> > significantly.  It is a 50/50 situation: blind people need to do their half
>> > of    helping get rid of ignorance  and sighted people need to be willing to
>> > do their half.
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