Nativity portrayal of Dwarves

[ChristmasTreats]

Just been to see this years school play, Snow White. Very good, lots of effort gone into it and the kids all enjoyed themselves.

I was a bit taken aback when the seven dwarves came out though as they paraded round the stage several times walking on their knees.

I'm interested to know whether I am being unreasonable to think in this day and age children should not be encouraged to imitate a disabled group of society.

Achondroplasia isn't always correct either

That is true. Warwick Davies, for example, has Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita. Which I only found out from his wiki page just now.

Dwarves are not an imitation of disabled people - they are mythical creatures. Yes, there is a basis in fact but FGS, this is a bit hysterical isn't it?

I thought the PC wording was PORG - Person Of Restricted Growth.

Thanks for pointing out achondroplasia isn't always correct.

We still need to not say 'dwarves/dwarfs' though don't we? Unless we and everyone we're speaking to know that we only mean mythical creatures?

I think if you took a poll of people in the street and asked them what 'dwarves/dwarfs' were they would say people (who have a disability/suffer from dwarfism/suffer from achondroplasia/little people) rather than mythical creatures.

And that's what we need to change.

We still need to not say 'dwarves/dwarfs' though don't we?

I think that is how Warwick Davies identifies himself though. That's why I was looking on Wiki but I couldn't find it there. I think referring to dwarfism is better than calling someone a dwarf though... obviously I have no personal idea but I would generally go with the "person with..." principle unless told Otherwise.

Either way, they are not the same as mythical dwarfs.

Our baby probably had thanatrophoric dysplasia, but it could have been one of the other rarer dysplasias. It definitely wasn't acondroplasia. Because of the uncertainty, he has dwarfism as the cause of death on his death certificate.

I have no problem with the word dwarf, but wouldn't let my other kids say that their brother was a dwarf in case they were laughed at, or assumed to have wild imaginations.

So Saucy are you saying because we use dwarfism in a medical way it's ok?

I'm not sure about that since I think doctors still use 'mongoloid features'.

Aren't the insensitive (and inaccurate) medical words being phased out? I thought I'd read they were.

I'm not sure about that since I think doctors still use 'mongoloid features'

They most certainly don't.

Well they did 8 years ago when I was a respite carer for SS

Maybe there are one or two dinosaurs still out there but by in large the medical profession doesn't use it. It's not a scientific term any more.

Am I the only one who will probably spend the rest of the day singing 'Hi Ho, Hi Ho...'

I don't really know to be honest. Dwarfism isn't an offensive word or inaccurate word in etymological terms in and of itself tho. It simply means to cause to look small.

Mongoloid isn't used any more because it is inaccurate to draw a genetic comparison between people with Down Syndrome and people from the South East Asian region.

Lots of perfectly "reasonable" terms become offensive because of the negative connotations of the word, rather than the meaning of the word itself and I'm sure that dwarfism will go that way too.

I don't think little people is any better in the slightest tho.

Maybe the nativity dwarfs sing...
High ho, high ho
To Bethlehem we go,
To see the Christ
Who's born tonight
High ho, high ho, high ho ho...

There's a danger in being offended on someone else's behalf. That's when political correctness becomes ridiculous: you are effectively saying to someone "It doesn't matter that you are not offended - you should be!" and that's taking things too far imo. It's patronising and, imo, that's more offensive than the name.

Exactly. I think using the term 'dwarfism' will go soon as it's inaccurate and insensitive.

most people not knowing better/ not being sensitive twin the two and don't distinguish

Don't be ridiculous. Of course most people know the difference between someone with a medical condition and the mythical characters in Snow
White or the Hobbit.

Perhaps the play could have been renamed Snow White, the Seven Elves and the Three Wise Men to save all the anxiety about dwarves ( unless representing elves is seen as elf-ish)! Surely the actors were representing the mythical creatures, rather than pretending to have achondroplasia.

And I think Warwick Davies is perfectly entitled to call himself a dwarf....

You read the rest of my post didn't you?

Warwick said this in an interview:

"Some people don't think it's right to say the word 'dwarf', and the word 'midget' is held by some to be quite offensive, but I don't feel that," says Davis, springing up into a chair the same size as the one I have just plumped down on in the bar of the beautifully refurbished St Pancras hotel in London.

"I'm not part of that PC brigade... I think so many people are afraid to talk to me in case they say the wrong thing. I'd much rather people talk to me and if they say the wrong thing, at least we've had the conversation."

Now, I wouldn't for one second assume that everyone felt the same as him and would always tread carefully but I think his comment "at least we've had the conversation" is great.

Puremince sorry for your loss.

I read that Warwick Davis and his wife lost two sons in infancy due to the combination or types of dwarfism they had been born with.

Would an actor, playing the part of a character wearing spectacles, be insulting people with eyesight problems?

Perhaps we could add it to the list of complaints about school nativities?

"My son who is in Year 2 wasn't chosen to play one of the dwarves (even though he is only six foot two) and was made to be a camel instead. AIBU"

Re dwarves in nativities and other random characters - it's just so every child gets an actual named part really rather than having 45 random Villagers or whatever. We used to do one version called Fairy Tale Nativity and it had a whole host of fairy tale characters in from the three little pigs (who became the three wise men) to Little Red Riding Hood (became Mary I think) and more. It was all very random!

I also read the story re taller actors taking the jobs of the Dwarves on Snow White pantos. Apparently the taller actors were cheaper to employ.

How did they deal with the Wicked (and Ageing) Stepmother - I hope they moved away from the ageist stereotypical portrayal of a woman who is a second wife?