"Disability activists push for more inclusive Pride celebrations"

Story by Zoe Christen Jones, June 30, 2021, (CBS News via msn)

Read the whole story: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/disability-activists-push-for-more-inclusive-pride-celebrations/ar-AALAVxG?ocid=mailsignout&li=BBnb7Kz

Not Japan related, but it is an intersection between my recent projects dealing with disability and gastronomy. This is the part I like:

© Provided by CBS News Alexis Hillyard / Credit: Kevin Tuong

Alexis Hillyard, a YouTuber who was born without her left hand, said it's freeing when she's in a space where she and her disability are accepted.

"Accessibility means that people are able to move through and exist in spaces they deserve to be a part of without feeling like they need to change who they are, make themselves smaller and make sacrifices to be able to be in that space," the 39-year-old said. "It's like being able to be and exist in your full self, as you are, without having to change or adapt to the world around you."

On her cooking channel, StumpKitchen, Hillyard explains how her disability is an important tool she uses every day and an integral aspect of her life. She's also deliberate in making her videos as accessible to her viewers as possible.

"I didn't realize before how much I would subconsciously hide my arm or wonder if people were staring or wondering what they were thinking about me or feeling sorry for me," Hillyard said. "It was a beautiful surprise and just an awareness and release of tension you were feeling that you didn't realize that you had."

"Unsound: The Legacy of Alexander Graham Bell" (in ASL, English and English closed captions)

Description: American Sign Language interpretation of Unsound, a radio documentary from IDEAS exploring the legacy of Alexander Graham Bell and his role in a movement called oralism, and the harmful legacy that still reverberates today.

The great project of Alexander Graham Bell's life was not, perhaps surprisingly, the telephone.

His life's true passion, and the project he focused on his entire life and funded with his earnings from the telephone, was the 'education' of deaf people. He was part of a movement called oralism and believed all deaf people should learn to lipread and speak rather than use sign language.

But not all deaf people can learn to speak. Or believe they should. And the harm of oralism still reverberates today.

This is a great interpretation from a Deaf perspective. Watch in full screen and hit the CC button for captions.

Radio show source: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/unsound-the-legacy-of-alexander-graham-bell-1.6020596

Video source: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1894072899880

For English transcript: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/transcript-unsound-the-legacy-of-alexander-graham-bell-1.5998768

So what kind of job can I get as a visual anthropologist? "Steve Arounsack // Raya and the Last Dragon Interview Final Cut"

"American Anthropological Association - Weekend Reads. How Anthropology Can Learn from 'Asia as Method'" - this weekend, too!

Cultural Consumption and Performance in Asia Series
https://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/tag/cultural-consumption-and-performance-in-asia/

Performance, Sign Language, and Deaf Identity in Japan
https://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2019/06/05/performance-sign-language-and-deaf-identity-in-japan/

Constant heavy rain since last night - (pandemic) tears of the prophets - causing the stream behind the house to rise high - no Hanshin Tigers this weekend because several players on the opposing team (Hiroshima Carp) have tested positive for COVID-19 - but you don't really care about any of this do you?

"American Anthropological Association - Weekend Reads. How Anthropology Can Learn from 'Asia as Method'"

Asian Ethnology Podcast 2021. Interview with Steven Fedorowicz: Deaf Communities in Japan. Nanzan University. By Mark Bookman. Transcript: https://asianethnology.org/storage/pagefile/Steven%20Fedorowicz%20Interview%20Transcript.pdf

Representations of Deaf People in Japan: Inspiration, Outrage and Real Life

Abstract: This presentation examines representations of deaf people in Japan as related to so-called "inspiration porn" -- the idealization of disabled people doing everyday tasks (e.g. riding a train, having a job) or for achievements having nothing to do with their particular disability (e.g. deaf athletes). Cross-cultural examples, academic models, observations and perspectives will be discussed to explore how disabled and deaf people are portrayed in various media. Japanese deaf people are often critical of the representations of deaf protagonists and characters in popular television dramas and movies. Such representations create strong but inaccurate images of deafness and sign language that ultimately serve to perpetuate deficit models of disability. On the other hand, representations of disabled/deaf people themselves challenge and add to a social welfare discourse, leading to (re)evaluations of societal norms and attitudes towards disability.

In English, with real-time captioning (CART)

Friday, May 14, 2021, 10:00 AM (Japan time)

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vAeF7_WxQlKdgXnOL2IVfQ

Inquiries (e-mail): nirc-ai-jimu@nanzan-u.ac.jp

Asian Ethnology Podcast 2021. Interview with Steven Fedorowicz: Deaf Communities in Japan. Nanzan University. By Mark Bookman.
Transcript: https://asianethnology.org/storage/pagefile/Steven%20Fedorowicz%20Interview%20Transcript.pdf

H-ASIA Announcement 「Webinar: Representations of Deaf People in Japan」

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vAeF7_WxQlKdgXnOL2IVfQ

Inquiries (e-mail): nirc-ai-jimu@nanzan-u.ac.jp

Asian Ethnology Podcast 2021. Interview with Steven Fedorowicz: Deaf Communities in Japan. Nanzan University. By Mark Bookman.
Transcript: https://asianethnology.org/storage/pagefile/Steven%20Fedorowicz%20Interview%20Transcript.pdf

Announcement source: https://networks.h-net.org/node/22055/discussions/7632905/webinar-representations-deaf-people-japan

A little girl had plans for today but it's been pouring rain since last evening; in hopes of stopping the rain she made teru teru bozu; unfortunately the rain hasn't stopped yet; so, plans will have to wait...

Tracking down the origins of the teru teru bozu (てるてる坊主) sunshine doll tradition
https://japanesemythology.wordpress.com/tracking-down-the-origins-of-the-teru-teru-bozu-%E3%81%A6%E3%82%8B%E3%81%A6%E3%82%8B%E5%9D%8A%E4%B8%BB-sunshine-doll-tradition/

「The Last Call: A Visual Ethnography of Drinking Establishments in Japan Before and During COVID-19」Presentation at the Central States Anthropological Society Virtual Annual Meeting

The Last Call: A Visual Ethnography of Drinking Establishments in Japan Before and During COVID-19

Steven C. Fedorowicz

Asian Studies Program

Kansai Gaidai University

Abstract: This presentation is a multimodal visual ethnography of drinking establishments such as izakaya (“Japanese pubs”) and tachinomiya (“standing bars”) in Japan before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus will be on a 40-year-old standing bar in Osaka called Tenbun. Tenbun serves many kinds of alcohol and food items and has a lively atmosphere with plenty of colorful characters, including the owner, employees and regular customers. Not only is it a popular place to eat and drink, it is an important setting for socialization. This study is based upon over two years of dedicated participant-observation and photography, a photo exhibition and other post-fieldwork encounters. Since the onset of COVID-19, out of necessity, eating and drinking behavior has changed and many izakaya, tachinomiya and restaurants have been forced to close. Tenbun closed shop in March, 2020. This research project examines the intersection of food anthropology, multimodal research methods, recent research on drinking establishments and the plethora of “foodie” media productions. It has also become a form of salvage ethnography. My data and photographs not only preserve Tenbun but also document the eating, drinking and socializing habits of Japan before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This presentation will be in session 2-08 on Sunday, April 25, 2021. Session time slot is 4:45-6:30 Central Daylight Time.
(Monday, April 26, 2021, 6:45-8:30 AM in Japan.)

For information about the CSAS Annual Meeting: http://csas.americananthro.org/annual-meeting/