The group Little People of America wants the FCC to ban the word "midget" from television, claiming that the word is just as offensive as a racial slur. The community maintains that "midget" carries a history of objectification of people who have been used as a visual gag because of a physical difference.
An episode of The Celebrity Apprentice, which aired this past Spring, has prompted the latest call for a ban. During the episode, contestants suggested washing "midgets" in All "small and mighty" detergent, and then hanging them out to dry. One contestant said: "They know that people point and laugh at them and they are comfortable within themselves and they have fun right back."
Whenever I see commercials or movies treating little people as props rather than people, I wonder two things. First: does anyone actually find it enjoyable to laugh at people just because they're different? And second: why is it still acceptable to ridicule little people in a so-called "politically correct" society that allegedly discourages degrading people for characteristics or circumstances they cannot control?
Do you support a ban on the word "midget"?
Source: Flickr User Alan Light's
