Sign for Crip in Crip Linguistics

Image Description: A bald white man with a thin beard signs in front of a bookshelf. He wears a blue t-shirt with redacted text saying “history should not be redacted”.

Many people have asked what signs we (Dr. Jon Henner and myself) use for Crip in Crip Linguistics, the paper that we co-authored.

We came up with two signs. Both signs are good representations of the underlying meaning of crip in crip linguistics. The choice of sign depends on the precise meaning we seek to express.

Jon’s sign [shown on video]. This means a flattening of the bell curve as in demolishing the idea of “norms” and the “ideal”. As we know, the bell curve has been used to determine those who are normal and those who are outliers- the “superhuman” and the “undesirable other” that reinforces deficit views of people. To crip is to abandon the idea of norms and embrace all sorts of variation.

My sign [shown on video]. This shows the world being turned upside down. The reason I devised this sign was that to crip means to disrupt the way that the world operates and how systems operate. Instead of allowing the world and systems to just keep doing what they do (which is to disable and Other people), we want to crip things through interruption; to provoke people to pause and reflect. In this process, systems are dismantled/abolished and something new grows in its place: a more equitable world where all forms of languaging are honored.

To crip is political. The usage of these signs are political and intentional. Both signs are good representations of the different ideas expressed in our Crip Linguistics Manifesto. Jon and I agreed on the usage of both signs, that either one would be suitable for our purpose.

So. “Turn the world upside down” linguistics. “Dismantle the norm” linguistics.