to be shocked and upset to see the term "midget" used in reference to one of the alleged new BB housemates

[emkana]

The woman the media are talking about didn't actually go in tonight, but in all the papers, even the bl*dy Independent, they call her a "midget belly dancer".

My ds has dwarfism and it makes me feel very to think that he will come across terminology like this...

so you recruit to a dull pattern of one dimensional factors

the what she refers to herself as argument is interesting of course

does she or do the programme makers tell her and she is happy to go along with it

or she knows that she stands a good chance of being picked if she makes it her usp

that doesnt necessarily make it a good idea generally

One of my friends is 4'9 and describes himself as a midget. I would never have considered this offensive.

Saying that, I probably wouldn't say midget myself, say if DS asked why he was so small, I would probably just say 'he is a small person' or some such. But I wouldn't have thought midget, or dwarf, would actually offend.

I guess though, everyone takes offence at different things, where you have written to the papers for the word midget, my friend describes himself as a midget. Its very hard to know what to say, when different people are offended by different things.

I don't think there is anything wrong with using a physical characteristic to describe someone, either. Why not? The way we look is part of who we are, so why not? The blonde girl, the black guy, the tall woman, the short guy. Don't get whats wrong with that, TBH.

Um, but the reality is that people will search for a term to use for a 'person of short stature' .. and that's a mouthful, tbh.

Perhaps we should apply ourselves to inventing a new one?

Ah yes, Lapin. He is indeed scrumptious. Little or not, I don't think he'll be lacking in attention!

how are they describing the other participants then?

in two words

without using their names

omg i am curious now against my better judgement

Yes, I agree there, I think its fair to say he will not be struggling with his love life when he is older

actually i hate the whole journo speak way of talking about people

Hi emkana
Your son is lovely and has one of the nicest smiles I have seen in ages.
looking at the link you used it also appears that the term "Little People" is preference. Great website FWIW. link Interesting and informative.

The site says:
"LPA is dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with dwarfism throughout their lives while celebrating with great pride Little People?s contribution to social diversity. LPA strives to bring solutions and global awareness to the prominent issues affecting individuals of short stature and their families."

i was brought up with the word midget that is for sure

ken dodd and his diddy men were popular

tho i actually found that kind of show dancing stuff boring

presuming she is the only belly dancer then i guess that belly dancer would have been enough but clearly she is on the show because she is small and presumably has some sort of extrovert personality

I disagree emkana. I don't see why there should be a difference.

The 'blonde girl' conjurs up a mental image as well, to be fair. Blondes are ridiculed for being dumb, and as such a blonde girl might not like to be described as such. But, at the end of the day, she is blonde and therefore it is a perfectly legitimate descriptive word.
I don't see why that cannot apply to small people, or tall people.. these are physical characteristics that are instantly noticable.

Not saying it, IMO, draws more attention to it. My friend makes jokes about his 'midget' status all the time, and instantly puts everyone at ease. Within 2 minutes of being with him, you forget, as its normalised. However, if it was taboo to talk about it, then you would be constantly aware of it as you would be making the effort not to say anything that might offend.

individuals always vary with this we had a discussion recently about the mentally ill and whether that was acceptable

I would never refer to someone as a midget.
I'm surprised that people think this is acceptable, to me its as offensive as being racist or sexist.

Your boy is a stunner by the way mckanna

Well DSM we'll just have to agree to disagree at this point.

I feel that to a large extent it will be my son's decision how he will want to approach it, and I will support him in his decisions. But I hope he will grow up knowing that he is not just defined by his condition, that there is so much more to know and love about him.

it's all about shock tv now. i don't know where the real great tv writers have gone.

the problem is that often opinion is divided

some women would like to be called busty beauty jordan while others would be angry

I meant emkana, sorry - its late, I'm tired and generally bloody useless!

well a lot of people are happy to be exploited or mined shamelessly for a quick rise to notoriety

I thought she talked a lot of sense in that last post, em.

I think you should read it again. People will define your son by his height. There is no way you can avoid that by wishful thinking.

I'm sorry if I sound harsh to you, because I don't mean to. But sound strategies put in place now, will reap huge benefits later on.

Decide on your phrase, decide on your attitude, and stick with it throughout.

I don't know any body's ages but maybe its a generation thing?

I know when I was at school, calling someone a midget would have not been tolerated.