Linguistic Appropriation on Social Media
Sign Language is our culture and mode of communication, not a gimmick
Brief disclaimer
This is the first of a multi-part article series based on a paper I originally wrote for a University rhetoric course. I broke it into sections and made edits to make it easier to read, so I hope you enjoy.
(Also, please note, although Medium estimates this to be a 10-minute read, it’s really more of a 5–7 minute read if you don’t count the reference section).
Linguistic exploitation
In the summer of 2022, a teenager named Lola posted a video of herself signing a song on TikTok. As someone who is hard of hearing, fluent in American Sign Language (ASL), and involved in the Deaf community, I can objectively say the interpretation is terrible.
It’s awkward and choppy, it doesn’t convey the attitude or tone of the song, and some of the lyrics or concepts are signed incorrectly. The sign for “hot” is mistakenly signed in place of the phrase “don’t care”, the sign for “apple” is used instead of “cool”, and the sign “cry” is signed with incorrect finger position. The actual lyrics are “Stop telling me what I should wear! Yes, I just woke up, and I don’t care because I’m too cool (that’s a lie)”. The…
