Popular culture

This past week seems to have been a very good week for BSL. It was everywhere I looked. Gone are the days when signing used to be punishable, we're going mainstream and being recognised. It's a good feeling.

I was watching a new series called 'The Body Farm' with my parents. Basically, it's CSI set in England. I became absurdly excited when I realised that the storyline for this episode involved Deaf people. Yay! I then became even more excited when I realised I could understand what they were signing. Go me.

The second time I noticed Sign Language being used was in a WebComic I read. Yes, I am aware that this is extremely nerdy, and I probably just lost all my streetcred by admitting I read webcomics. Oh well. Anyway, a character in this WebComic (Girls With Slingshots) is Deaf and signs. She never had much of a big part in it, but the past few episodes revolved around her. Which was exciting to me.

I'm a nerd. Shut up. Stop judging me.

Finally, the other thing that has me very excited is the music video to 'You Need Me' by Ed Sheeran. A friend gave me the link a while ago, but it's recently made it in to the Top 10. Ed Sheeran is a UK singer and his music video features a young signing actor. He signs the entire song. What's even better is that I can understand almost the entire song by the signing. I love it. Here's the video:



Just three little things, but they're pretty major. BSL is classed as one of the national languages in the UK. However, you hardly see it anywhere in popular culture. Until now. There's still a long way to go - but we're getting there!

Deaf Girl