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Banning "Midget" From TV
Filed under: TV News
The Little People of America want to ban the use of the word "midget" on television!
The LPA discussed the issue at their annual conference in Brooklyn on Monday, stating that using the term "midget" is discriminatory and filing a complaint with the FCC.
Michael Petruzzelli, the president of LPA's Long Island chapter, is grateful for the government's compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act to accommodate little people, but, he says "we haven't made those social changes to take those offensive words out of our vocabulary."
Most recently, the LPA were angered by the use of the "M-Word" on NBC's Celebrity Apprentice with a challenge in which the contestants produced a laundry soap ad called Jesse James and the Midgets, where suggestions of "bathing little people in the detergent and hanging them to dry" were made.
But the LPA's protest in the form of e-mails and phone calls to the FCC, Donald Trump and NBC were all ignored.
Continued Petruzzelli: "It's not acceptable to call people the N-word, just as it's not acceptable to call people the M-word. The chosen term now is L.P., or little person."
Fight on!
[Image via WENN.]
I say we ask the experts: Chelsea Handler and Chuy. They will have the final say in my book!
Celebrity Midget Look-A-Likes???
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BBD - Hot Dark and Deadly as always . . .
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MIAR - The Queen follows the King . . .
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AJ - The Princess of the trifecta . . .
When they become adults they can choose to be called whatever they like!!!
p.s. I'm with miss Handler on calling them 'nuggets'.
Wow! I can't believe how insensitive and dismissive the comments are!
NO ONE CHOSE TO BE "REGULAR" OR "LITTLE". Don't judge!!
Karma—those who criticize will understand the day when they don't have everything they think they deserve!!
"Midget" is a joke work. "Little person" is more appropriate. Be kind! One day u may be desperate for another's kindness!
Re: kissmyassobama –
wow u must be obsessed w/ hating on obama even though i think we should have no president replublican/democrat/independent they all suk!!!one day im goin bak to isreal my homeland but i love Clandestine toooo much to move
if u dont kno what Clandestine is go to www.clandestineindustries.com
Get over it, people! You are midgets. You've been midgets for many many years. Little people make you sound like 2nd graders. and B-B-Beaver Boyz, hahahahaha! Love your comment!
Re: kissmyassobama – o.m.g!!!!! :-O bwaaaaa ha ha ha ha ha !!!LMAO!!your right,,,too funny!!
I realize people often use the word midget in a derogatory way, but is the word in and of itself actually offensive? maybe going too far.
Are you kidding me? Calling them midget is the same as saying the "N" word?! I'm not black, but if I were, I think I would take a bit of an exception to this. I mean, I can't remember a time in America's history where we enslaved midgets for hundreds of years, treated them like less than human, slaughtered them, then, when slavery ended, segregated them. But, for some reason because they just don't like the term (even though it is a legally recognized term with no negative connotation associated with it) they just want it banned? Give me a break.
They just want to be respected.
the little Rihanna looks lovely!!
…..U guys are f-ing mean…
Fucking midgets! They should go back to where they came from.
It won't make them any taller…
Re: Reefer – I agree with you I think little person sounds really patronizing.. Like something a teacher would call you in a nursery…as in "and who is this little person here" on your first day.. Mad!
I swear that's Rhianna in the front!!!!
And in ten years they will want to ban the term 'Little People'.
OMG. Look out America! Pretty soon we are going to be a communist nation who will not be able to speak freely without consulting from a list of pre-approved words.
I LOVE THAT THEY SEEM SO HAPPY AND ARE ACTIN NORMAL! RIGHT ON! CHECK OUT THE GUY WITH THE PINK SHADES! PIMP!
Re: SexyItalianbitch – OMG! that is sooo funny, me too. Im in NYC and when I heard that they were coming, I FREAKED out! Thet scare me………..
Re: yoshijmc – Ever heard of the circus?
Short People got no reason to Live!!
I dont know how many "little people" you all have met but I meet them all the time and they are always mean. My parents were wrestlers and we had the midgette wrestlers at my house. Through the years Ive met a ton. About 3 months ago I was driving down the street and almost ran over two little girls running out into the street then I thought wow those girls had big boobs, I looked up and there was a midgette convention at the park. It was pretty funny.
yes, censorship is always healthy…midget is already socially unacceptable, though to me it sounds less offensive than little person, but whatever
Seriously, I'm all for fighting the good fight, but this is stupid. Then N word is nothing like calling someone a midget. What's so discriminatory & offensive about the word midget? Midget or dwarf means someone short in stature.
HEY MIDGETS, YOU'RE MIDGETS. SUCK IT, MIDGETS.
And this is exactly why they're fighting this fight…look how many people have responded to this post with insults, generalizations and ridicule? Dwarfism is a disability, it's not their choice, and it's not really that funny. Granted the comparison to the N word is a stretch….But have a heart.
I bet this was all Matt Roloff's idea! He's an angry little man with a big napoleon complex.
Since im not a midget I can't relate but i can relate to the N- word though if its that big of a meaning to them then it should be banned.
OK, this is just ridiculous! My youngest son has hypochondroplasia, a form of dwarfism caused by a sporadic gene mutation. I jokingly refer to him as my little hobbit, midget, oompa-loompa, etc. The goal is to raise him to be comfortable in his own skin and able to laugh at himself, the way we ALL need to learn to do. We none of us are perfect. But this is why I get irritated with LPA. While advocacy and awareness are key, being offended by every little thing and going all PC is self-defeating and weakens the fight for equality in the areas that actually matter.
good on them but its a tad extreme mabi just ban mockin of little people not the word midget cos thats my cats name
Oh, and btw, the term midget is actually useful as it identifies one with proportionate dwarfism, ie primordial dwarfism, as opposed to someone with disproportionate dwarfism, such as achondroplasia. It also applies to someone who is simply diminutive, but with no underlying medical condition. Using any term in a derogitory manner is wrong and many people in this world should grow a conscience, and misusing a term is ignorant, but to say that this term should be banned, when it can be used in a number of non-offensive ways, is an unnecessary overreaction. Further to the point, satire is protected speech, and though I have not seen the clip in question, it sounds as if they were trying to be funny. I think we should all think twice before rushing to limit the freedoms afforded under the constitution. Ignoring the ignorant IS an option.
they make all this fuss over that. when ppl use the N word so much. time ot pur priorities in order ppl. c'mon now.
To clarify - LPA is not asking that the word midget be banned from use. They have only made a statement that it is a word that they do not support, therefore they don't support programs that use the word. They are not seeking to censor anyone just trying to create more awareness that the term is not ok within their community.
Re: nationwide – that's not the way this article reads…? it says they want to ban the use of the word because they believe it's discriminatory and filing an FCC complaint is the legal path to censorship in this country. and, btw, my family falls "within their community" and i don't find it an unnacceptable choice of adjective. i think the better statement is the VIPs at LPA find it offensive, i wonder how many dwarfs/midgets/little people and families of actually really care THAT much. people being jerks on TV is not new, change the channel.
Members of LPA wrote letters of complaint to the FCC regarding the episode of The Apprentice, and also to NBC. On Sunday, at the national LPA conference in Brooklyn, LPA issued a statement that they do not support the term midget and it is offensive. The national conference draws some media attention as it is, so they used it as a platform to reiterate that this was a term they refuse to align themselves with. It's not just the VIPs within LPA that dislike the term, I am a member of LPA and don't agree with it either. Plainly, it conjures up negative perceptions - look at what has been said here and this is a fairly random audience. And you can always change the channel or walk away, but we want to be treated with respect and taken seriously, and although a lot of it relies on the individual, an equal part comes from public perception, which is what they are seeking to change.
Re: nationwide – what exactly is it about the word 'midget' that offends you? i'm sincerely interested, as my son is too young to understand, let alone speak at length on issues such as social equality. is this an issue, like the so called 'n' word, where it's ok for us to use it but not for others "outside" our world? and do we really want an 'our world' and their world, an 'our community' and 'their community'. this is something i've never understood about black people who rage that there's no such thing as seperate but equal, but go to great lengths to differentiate between 'our culture' and 'their culture', 'our history' and 'their history'. it just seems to me that any word can be used as a slur, depending on context, and singling out particular words is a waste of time. and while it's not wrong to be proud of our uniqueness, shouldn't we spend more time celebrating what we have in common?
Re: nationwide – i want to reiterate that i'm sincere in my questions, and not trying to start a cyberfight.
The term midget while it can be referred to inanimate objects of small size, when referring to people it often associates someone with a child's sports team or a circus freak show. And I am neither of those things. I am all about progress for myself and others with my condition, and progress means getting past labels and just letting people be people.
To mr BIG BLACK DICK, and all of you're uneducated groupies,
If you are not a little person you do not have the right to say what is or what is not offensive. There was a time in history when the N-Word was thought of as a great word to refer to people of color. welll its not. Just like the N-word is not ok, neither is the M-word. You guys need to back off and get a clue. The conference that is going on in brooklyn is called "LITTLE PEOPLE OF AMERICA" not midgets of america so thats all you need to go by. Get a job and stop blogging all day you lazy mother fuckers. There are words that can be used to describe every race, or minority in a derogatory manor… this is one of those words so back up. You don't even realize but your spreading this issue so much and giving it the attention it deserves so thanks losers and keep living your loser insecure ignorant uneducated lives,
LPA Volunteer/head of security
fuck that midgets are scary….no lie Im totally freaked out by them
Re: DontBeStupid – and what makes you any better by calling people lazy fuckers and assuming that just because we are commenting that we have no jobs… oh wait didnt you just comment on this?? wow who's the lazy fucker now BITCH get a life seriously people are entitled to their opinions nobody is trying to shut yours up so let others have theirs
Sorry what did the Ompaa Lumpas have to say.
Did I say that… I meant Bald Ewoks
I meant ankle biters
Sorry micronauts
no no that's not it….
thats what they are their midgets oh great so now they have to redo texts books just for them. these lil people def get more then us BIG people do.
Who cares about the MIDGETS?????