"Deaf Identities" Is Not a Plural Form of "Deaf Identity"

Abstract

What first caught my attention about Irene Leigh's book was its title. The plural in the phrase ''Deaf Identities'' made me pause and wonder if she is dis- cussing something that is different from the more familiar phrase ''Deaf Identity.'' Deaf Identity is an abstract sociocultural construct reflecting the collec- tive view that members of the Deaf world have of themselves. Leigh is writing about the notion that not all deaf people's lives are the same. Her book is about how the process of identity formation of indi- vidual deaf people is a product of the world each person happens to grow up in and how the person interfaces with that world. The focus of Leigh's book is the psychological question of how different deaf people come to terms with their identity as an indi- vidual who is deaf. Leigh would agree that the formation of identity is largely a product of the enculturation process: learning