 |
 |
Hi Cindy et al. I conduct an exercise in class where the class looks at a range of leisure activities that lie "on and beyond the margins of conventional morality". The class scales these according to their relative subjective morality. Dwarf tossing contests are one of those activities. It is rare that any students have heard of it but they are only 18 yo on average. What is interesting is that they often ask about consent when they choose how to answer. it seems if one consents to being "tossed" then it isn't as immoral as if one didn't. I suppose really, that's true but unfortunately people don't stop to think about why people would consent to being ridiculed. I wonder if there is anyone out there who is short of stature who can tell me whether generally, there is an expectation of them to be funny; to be clown-like; to be like a circus entertainer? Do people consent to these degrading acts because they play out an important or valid social role? (Sorry about the rhetorical nature of these questions - tell me if I'm making assumptions that aren't so). Its something I would like to bring up in that class and want to be somewhat informed when it is discussed. For anyone who is interested, those activities that are against the law and those that harm other people tend to be rated as the most immoral with "taking cocaine" as one of the highest ranked and "marijuana" as one of the lowest. Anything that harms animals eg bullfighting rank highly too. At 05:32 AM 22/01/2002 +1100, you wrote: >Greetings, > >I had a thought as I watched LOTR for the third time. As a long time >fan of Tolkien, I wondered why they had put in that seemingly >gratuoutous 'stairs falling apart' as they ran towards the bridge. > >I am not sure how widespead is the controversial bar "game" of dwarf >tossing, but if it infests the UK as well as the US, I wonder if they >didn't put that scene in just to get one line, "Nobody tosses a dwarf," >into the movie. > >Tolkien dwarves are not a direct likeness of "little people" or >individuals with dwarfism, but a separate race in the books. > >Just a thought. > >BB >Cindy > > > > >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! >http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/ > >________________End of message______________________ > >Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List >are now located at: > >www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html > >You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page. Best Regards Laurence Bathurst University of Sydney School of Occupation and Leisure Sciences PO Box 170 Lidcombe NSW 1825 Australia Ph: 61 2 9351 9509 Fax: 61 2 9351 9166 Email: [log in to unmask] Work for a living - Leisure for a life ________________End of message______________________ Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List are now located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page.