'and you want three wishes: one to fly the heavens, one to swim like fishes...'

[borg_princess]

TV: Mother asked me to find a Xena ep that she could show her class, since they’re studying Greek monsters, but for a show based (at least initially) on Greek mythology, it surprisingly has like, ZERO Greek monsters. While there are references to famous figures in Greek myth, no monsters! Can you believe it? I had to go d/l a couple Hercules

Comments

[mistaria]

I don't get what the issue is with getting a cochlear implant either. According to wikipedia it has to do with the idea that a deaf person is "disabled" and has a lot to do with children being implanted with them when they're too young to make a choice.

I understand not wanting to be seen as disabled and to have being deaf as a huge part of your identity... But as someone who loves music and the sound of a good voice (Alan Rickman purrrr) I have to say the benefits of being able to hear are pretty huge. And I hope that doesn't come across as insensitive.

[borg_princess]

Oh, thanks for the link! I didn't even consider wikipedia would have anything on this (I mostly use it to explain new tv shows/characters to me).

Aaaand it's sort of clarifying the issue to me. It's about a minority who's afraid of being eliminated because of science. I guess from their pov, it's like scientists finding a way to eliminate homosexuality or something, it's treating a condition as something to be 'fixed', rather than something that should be accepted and to have pride in. Just because it's different from the rest of society doesn't mean it ought to be eliminated so they can conform to the majority.

I...don't really agree with that myself, because I do think deafness is a medical issue, but that's me with my particular worldview who knows nothing of the culture. I might have a different opinion if I knew any deaf people. *shrug* I mean, I can see where they're coming from, in a way, but like you said, there's so many advantages to being able to hear, and lolyeah, ALAN RICKMAN'S VOICE. <3

Also, icon love. *gets warm-

[mistaria]

BSG icons FTW. :D

I don't know that I've ever been in a situation where people acted like hearing problems trumped vision problems. At least not in cases where someone was just using "are you deaf" or "are you blind" as a sort of insult. It could be because people who have glasses/vision problems are more common than people with diagnosable hearing problems? Not sure. It is interesting though.

[borg_princess]

Aww, I deleted my BSG icons or I'd join in...

I think you're right, a lot of people have glasses and it's like, a common thing and not seen as stigmatized, I guess? Whereas with hearing problems, there might be more discrimination against them and so it's a touchier subject.

Also, when I have glasses on, it doesn't- it's not a barrier to 'normal' social interaction the way that a person's deafness would be, y'know? So I think that's generalized to people with any sort of hearing problem, that you tread softly and don't make comments about it the way others might with 'oh, are you blind?' because it has different connotations. *shrug* Not that I'm an expert, just a theory!

[mapping_stars]

Re; implants.

I do a lot of work volunteering in the Deaf community, in in a lot of ways, it's like being part of... for lack of a better explanation, a Native-American tribe. They're EXTREMELY close knit, everybody knows everybody, and getting a implant is seen as a slap in the face for everyone involved. Like, you're putting yourself above them? fails at explaining. It's a very... unusual culture. And I totally see why it's confusing to you.

[borg_princess]

Oh. Well, that kind of puts it in perspective, I guess- it's a bit like my racial analogy, then, except proving the opposite of my point? So it is like rejecting your culture if you get the implant? If you get it, then you're conforming and ditching people who share your 'heritage' or something? I...yeah, guess it's one of those things where if you're not part of it, you don't really get it. O.o Thanks for trying to explain, though. (and for understanding why IDGI, I was really worried about being insensitive here)

I don't want to judge a culture I don't understand, but I kind of think it's a bit harsh that they would take it so personally if a deaf person wanted to be able to hear. I mean. Shouldn't that be their choice, without being guilted about it? That's rhetorical, btw, I don't expect you to be able to answer that, just trying to process here. *ponders*

(On a tangent, I wonder if it would be the same with blind people, would it be stigmatized there if a blind person could get an operation to be able to see?)

[mapping_stars]

It took a LONG time for me to even come to a vague understanding of the subject, and I've been taking ASL classes for nearly eight years. Yeah, that's pretty much exactly what it is. the Deaf have been persecuted for a long, LONG time - and forced to 'conform' to our 'hearing' standards, so there's a lot of (justified) resentment involved in these sorts of things. It's a very interesting, but very complicated subject.

As for being blind... I really think that's more seen as a disability, where as deaf people truly view themselves as the "norm". But I could be very wrong. xD

Also: re: Your Ships, have you ever watched Avatar: The Last Airbender because I can see you absolutely loving Zuko/Katara. It's pretty much right up your alley. :P

[borg_princess]

I feel a bit better about being dense on the subject, then! I was kinda like 'what am I missing, argh!' but it does seem like a really complicated issue, not like 'freedom good, slavery bad', etc

[sanalith]

Ok, so, I'm more than a little Xena obsessed, so I took on this challenge!! I'm not 100% sure if these will count, since some of them don't *technically* count as monsters, but...yeah. So!

- Ep.1x01: Sins of the Past - There's a Cyclops that traps Gabrielle, and she tricks her way out of it.

- Ep. 1x07: The Titans - Gabby accidentally wakes up three Titans. No monsters *exactly* but definitely non-human, non-god antagonists, so they might count!

- Ep. 1016: Mortal Beloved: Xena and Marcus fight harpies in the Underworld.

- Ep. 2x04: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Bacchae! Evil vampire-like creatures from Bacchus! This ep. also has some skeletal Dryads, so double the fun!

- Ep. 3x01: The Furies - Again, non-human, non-god antagonists, so kinda like monsters.

Man, you're right, Hercules has a lot more! XDDD

[borg_princess]

Oh, thanks for taking my request so seriously! :D

I actually did remember the Cyclops! It wasn't a huge part of the ep, though, like, just a couple minutes altogether? I might suggest it to mother anyway- it's a really good ep!

I'll check about Titans as well. I passed that over 'coz they weren't monsters in the sense of a Hydra or Minotaur, but mother just wants to keep the class occupied, so...

HARPIES. That's more like it! I'll check out that ep for sure, thanks!

Hee, I kind of vaguely recalled that, but this is for a high school class, and I'm not sure if the ep had sexual overtones? I might watch that one as well, but from memory, it seemed to have a bit of seduction and such in the plot, no?

Hmm, not sure about the Furies...I think mother was looking for traditional 'hero fights monster' kinda thing, and the Furies, they were messing around with Xena's sanity but not really attacking, iirc?

IKR? It's crazy the disparity between the shows! And thanks again for the help, sweetie, I appreciate it! *hugs*

[odysseedesreves]

I also didn't see the problem with looking into the cochlear implant but I think a lot of outrage over the rich parents (or, at least, my outrage over the rich parents) is that their first instinct was to fix Daphne's deafness, not to try to adjust their lives to it. If they were learning sign language AND looking into the cochlear implant, I would feel more sympathetic to them. But they just want to "fix" her and not actually go through any work themselves to figure out a way that they can communicate with her that will be easier for her

[borg_princess]

Yeah, good point. It is problematic when the first impulse is 'fix the deaf daughter' as opposed to 'let's learn how to communicate with her'. I guess I'm sympathetic because I never even understood the deaf culture and I'm embarrassed to say that my first thought would be 'so how about that Cochlear implant, eh?'

Well, thanks to this show, I will def not be thinking like that anymore.

Aww, you and I are so different! I wasn't that sympathetic to Regina 'coz I thought she overreacted, like when Daphne was interested in the idea of the implant and she was all 'NO, YOU CAN'T, AND THAT'S FINAL'. I mean, it's Daphne's life, jeez, it should be her decision

[bemysty]

Awwww, thank you <3

Emmett's actor, Sean Berdy, is 18. I feel like suck a perv, but he's so pretty, jfc

[ladyminya]

This comment is so absolutely perfect re: deafness that I am not even going to bother adding the comment I typed up, as it would be redundant. ;) I don't think deafness is a disability at all. As my Deafness & Communication teacher put it, it's simply a variation on the human condition - some people are born hearing, some people aren't. There's nothing wrong with that. :)

[borg_princess]

It's kind of shameful I'm only just figuring this out. *facepalm* IDK, I mean, like with eyesight problems, I wear glasses. So I kind of figured that with hearing problems, you'd get the implant. It just seemed to track, y'know? I hadn't known there was an acceptance of it as a way of life and a cultural thing that bonded people, but yeah, I'm def getting the picture now.

[ladyminya]

It's not shameful, hon. <3 I didn't know too much about the Deaf community until I started this class on it. It has very quickly opened my eyes to what their life is like, and how they're affected by social standards.

I think what impacts them most is this idea of conformity. You're coming at it from a solution-based stance (ie. if you want to hear, it's possible & you have options), whereas a lot of people view the Deaf community as Different (ie. they can't hear, they're not like us, they should get implants/hearing aids etc because then they will be like the 'norm').

I'm glad the comments were able to give you a bit of insight. :3 <3