Chapter 11

For Hearing People Only  Chapter 11                             

I really found chapter 11 to be quite interesting, one thing that particularity held my attention was the note about the sign- critics, I had never considered the placement of signs to have any correlation with a "masculine zone" or a "feminine zone." I don't really have an issue with signs relating to intelligent, and brilliant being in the "masculine zone", I feel like these signs were put into use during a time when men were thought to be the superior sex.To change this many signs just because some people think they may be connotative is a little overboard in my opinion. 
I do however agree with certain shifts in language, I think it is good that ASL is a fluid language and changes with the times. 
I think that the original signs for Korean, Chinese, and Japanese were not offensive signs when they were first being used. Signers were simply describing the people they saw, but as the times changed this came to be an inappropriate gesture. Now when someone makes squint eyes to portray an Asian or Chinese person it seems as if the signer is making fun of someone who looks different (or even the same) from them. 
There are many words in spoken English that were once used by hearing people that have become black listed, for example "dumb" was once used to describe people who can not speak. Over time this word has adapted another more negatively connoted meaning, so it is no longer acceptable in the US to describe mute people using the word "dumb." 
It is important for signs to change over time, just as it is for spoken language. Words adapt different meanings from generation to generation and sometimes it really is necessary to re thing the formation or even the use of signs.