Importance of deaf representation
Over the past year we have seen a much greater representation of deaf people in the mainstream media. For example, Rose Alying-Ellis winning strictly come dancing was an amazing culture shift for the deaf community.
Deaf representation in the media is so important for young deaf children and hearing children so a greater understanding can be made about the hidden disability. Quieter environments are less challenging than louder ones with background noise. Ultimately, this attitude came from misunderstanding hearing loss, through lack of information and, I believe, lack of media representation.
Growing up, a lot of deaf people think of themselves as the 'only one'- constantly surrounded by hearing families, classmates, friends, hearing characters in films, TV shows, newspapers and books, its easy to think that. Seeing another deaf person in the media can have a massive impact: the person finally understanding that others go through this and that others around them would have normalised hearing loss.
Makkari from Eternals
Makkari is the first Deaf hero in the MCU, with Deaf American actress Lauren Ridloff debuting the character in the 2021 film Eternals. Throughout the film, Makkari uses ASL (American Sign Language) to communicate with the other Eternals. All Ridloff’s co-stars, including Angelina Jolie and Kumail Nanjiani, learned ASL and communicated with her to ensure their own ASL was as accurate as possible.
The film not only brought joy to the Deaf community for finally getting the representation it deserves, it also triggered a huge spike in hearing people looking to learn sign language for themselves. Preply, a language learning app, reported a 250% increase in online searches for ‘learn sign language for beginners’ since Makkari’s character was announced.
Tasha Ghouri
Tasha is the first deaf contestant on this year's 'Love Island' and has been amazingly open and positive about her disability.
She gathered the contestants to reveal she had been completely deaf from birth and she wore a cochlear implant in her right ear. Calling it her "superpower", Tasha told them: "It's just something cool that I've got about myself." She added: "It doesn't define me, it's just a part of who I am."
The importance of Deaf role models | Sign Solutions
Deaf Representation in Media is So Important | Deaf Unity
Love Island: Tasha Ghouri becomes show's first deaf contestant - BBC News
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