I have a niece that is about 4 ft tall. She is not a little person, she has calcium deposits which stunted her growth.
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I have a niece that is about 4 ft tall. She is not a little person, she has calcium deposits which stunted her growth.
Can anyone tell me why midget is considered a derogatory term? I've looked it up w/Google and know the difference between midget and dwarf but can't find out why one is worse than the other. And why is "little person" an ok term to use?
In the movie, when Moondoggie called Sandra Dee Gidget, is that name now considered to be in poor taste? I'm confused. :confused
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Originally Posted by thedragonlady;4106559;
Matt has explained why they don't care for the term midget. It has to do with it having a negative connotation. It's the way it has been used to poke fun of them. That's my understanding. They had had an episode where Matt is speaking to a classroom of students and he explains it. Perhaps you can catch it on rerun.
I was just thinking about the pure numbers involved with an immediate family that large. If each of the kids gets married and has just 12 children, that still totals almost 250 people (including spouses). Obviously, you can't have an intimate family gathering in most homes. I'm doubtful they could even fit that many into the Duggars present home. It's great to have so many family members, but can you really be close to that many people? Just sending birthday cards could be a full-time job. LOL Then what happens when their kids have kids? Oh my, it's much worse than the Osmond family! LOL
How long before you don't really know people in your family? I can't see Michelle having much of any relationship with her grandchildren anyway.
I think this is in the wrong thread??Quote:
Originally Posted by Debb70;4106861;
I've often wondered about that too, despite Matt's explanation. Why not own the word and declare it proudly so the stigma disappears? To me, "little people," seems more derogatory on the face of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by thedragonlady;4106559;
Sorry. I shouldn't try to do too many things at once. LOL Not sure how to correct it, now. Oh well, anyone watch the Duggars? LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by Allie;4107098;
No worries. I do that way too much myself. I like reading about reality TV shows, but I just can't make myself watch a show about people who have lots of kids ... and that's it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Debb70;4107721;
But I do love reading about what everyone else thinks about it. :yay
Candor, glad to read what you wrote. From what I've learned, midget is the correct word to describe/identify certain attributes, just like dwarf describes similar but different physical attributes. So I still can't see why it would be a derogatory term. Like you, I think I would feel that Little People was more demeaning than a scientific term. I must have been living under a rock because I can't remember hearing midget used in a negative way.Quote:
Originally Posted by candor;4107696;
I hope this isn't considered off topic. These shows have taught me a lot about this subject, which I normally wouldn't see in my life (so far). The more we know, the better we understand others. :)
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I hope this isn't considered off topic. These shows have taught me a lot about this subject, which I normally wouldn't see in my life (so far). The more we know, the better we understand others. :)[/QUOTE]
Yes, I agree. They have taught me a lot too. I know that Matt gets a lot of criticism on many boards, especially the TLC board. People there are VERY mean and rip him to shreds everyweek. It's kind of scary the way they seem to have a personal vendetta against him.
I, however, have been inspired by Matt and Amy. I have seen them overcome so many challenges. I think Matt inspires me the most because he has so many medical problems that cause him pain and disability, however, he does not let it get him down and he keeps plugging away. It has given me faith to keep going through a recent physical disability. I'm much better now. I don't know how Matt does it.