A Treat for the Eyes

Abstract

In reading Women and Deafness: Double Visions, I was struck with the seamless way in which the editors presented scholarly work that portrays Deaf women within the historical evolution of Deaf culture. The book is divided into three parts in which specific Deaf women are studied from differing professional perspectives, such as sociology, ethnography, literature, the arts, history, and education. The first part focuses on Helen Keller’s position and her role as an advocate for Deaf people and other women’s roles in Deaf organizations, in education of Deaf children, and in the general American workforce. It was a very interesting and enlightening view on Helen Keller’s role as a Deaf woman—one that I had never given much thought toward until after reading this section. It also addresses how political, educational, and societal treatments of disabilities affected Deaf women’s place in society. The second part was particularly fascinating to me because it provides a historical and social perspective on Deaf women’s role within the oralist movement in deaf education. This section also explores contributions of single hearing women to the trends in early teaching of Deaf students. There is a touching chapter that tells about a relationship between a Deaf daughter and her hearing mother. Some things have changed and some things have not. In the last section, the reader is treated with