Are People Who Stutter Truly Oppressed?

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Re: Covert Stutterers

From: Lou Heite
Date: 25 Oct 2006
Time: 22:40:31 -0500
Remote Name: 24.237.249.158

Comments

Covert stutterers are mostly oppressed by themselves. Sure, they can get the jobs and perks that come with "normal" speech, but at what cost? The concept of "passing" once was a millstone around the necks of other, more famously oppressed groups. Jewish immigrants and some others changed thier names to non-Jewish ones, and in the earlier part of the 20th century, African-Americans tried skin bleaching, hair straightening, and other not-terribly-successful ways to appear like the dominant group. I place covert stutterers in that same boat, with people who identify so completely with the standards of the dominant group that they cannot acknowledge that they might more appropriately belong in a different group. I can't really blame them, either. After all, we'd all like to be considered desirable. But going overboard makes it impossible to deal with the problem that one may be trying with all their might to conceal. Lou Heite


Last changed: 10/26/06