the asl sign for “transgender“ is basically the same as the sign for ”beautiful“ but signed at the chest instead of in front of the face.
so that’s cool.
this is my imperfect not-a-fluent-signer understanding but:
(based on a presentation by a deaf trans guy i was at in 2005 where he was promoting that sign)
it seems like that sign was invented and implemented by trans people over the last 10-ish years. before that the predominant vocabulary was “sex change” and then some deaf trans people were like “yo fuck that” and came up with the current sign, which starts off with the sign for “myself,” then motion that indicates both change and coming together, and ends with the closed hand held against the sternum.
and in the process it also mimics the sign for “beautiful”
and because of spatial grammar, things closer to the front of your body in ASL are generally more vital, more emphatic, more immediate, more present.
so it’s actually a case where the word coherently indicates “beauty” and “self transformation” and contains hints of the complete thought of “my self transforming, through a coming together of disparate factors, into something more real, immediate, and vital than I was before.”
so yeah. that’s just fuckin’ awesome.
and that’s just the way to express that concept now.
Tag: asl
Is it bad that I want to ignore the system rule in 1st Ed Exalted about there being no form of sign language in Creation? I personally feel that even if it isn’t overly accessible… some form of gesturing language SHOULD exist?
Even if it is a simple thing only found in larger more progressive cities? Like Nexus, Lookshy, and the Imperial City.
I definitely feel that some form of sign language HAD to exist in the First Age.
Hey absolutely! When it doesn’t exist (or if it exists and makes you uncomfortable or angry), you change that shit. I’m not even going to debate it; here’s some story resources for deaf characters: a sign language to be learned like any other language, cultural perceptions and assistance available to Exalted societies, and a location that might be of interest to deaf characters. These are just some ideas I had off the top of my head; there’s a billion things you could do, and the world will be just as interesting for their addition.
Fingerspeak
Unbound by borders, Fingerspeak is a tongue as ancient as any other. It relies on physical symbols, gestures, and occasionally physical contact, and does not require the ability to speak or hear. It is generally regarded as a language of uncommon beauty, though nonspeakers often mistake brutally crude jokes for just another lovely hand gesture. (It is very common for Fingerspeakers to try to “one-up” each other in elaborate puns, trying to make other Speakers laugh in front of an unwary audience.) Some variations of the language, especially Northern ones, favour and somewhat rely on kennings, in which the Speakers use compound metaphor instead of single words.Fingerspeak, like Old Realm, has been lost in some remote places, but in just as many, it is common for village or tribe elders or wise people to have passed down the symbols through the years. Urban and isolated Fingerspeakers may have some trouble understanding each other at first, due to language mutation, but most Fingerspeakers are quite clever and creative- when there exists no direct word for a concept, they always find a way.
#disregard canon acquire representation
Always and forever
A Quiet Respite 