I had an interesting discussion about this with Mike Shamash, former Chair
of the Restricted Growth Association. Mike tells me that there is a big
split in the Uk community of small people over the term 'dwarf', with some
strongly against it and others (mainly those who exploit their stature
professinally) proud of the showbusiness role that their use of the term
implies.
The Guardian writer does seem to be using the word in the latter sense, with
reference to a role that is part of Philippines culture, and occasionally
refers to'little people' to refer to a wider group. (Whether this
distinction is maintained by the headline writer is open to discussion.)
The word I would really query is 'colony', with its overtones of epileptic
colonies and the like, where disabled people are withdrawn from society.
The intention seems to be to set up somewhere that would be a tourist
attraction, a 'Dwarftown' like the world's Chinatowns, so the story is not
about a group of people who are trying to get away from exploitation and the
'dwarf' role. Rather, they are looking to exert control over their lives by
managing that exploitation. The quote from Gary Arnold creates some
perspective on whether that is a good thing to do.
Overall, I'd say, by no means as awful a story as I rather expected when I
first set eyes on it.
If discussing the Guardian coverage of the story, one should include the
letter a couple of days later that queried whether this story demonstrated
that six out of seven dwarves are not Happy.
Best wishes
Allan Sutherland
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rosy Dorfman" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 3:15 AM
Subject: "Dwarves in Philippines plan to build colony where they can live in
peace"
What do people think of this Guardian article? Specifically, the content and
also the way it is written.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/01/dwarf-community-plans-phillipines
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