The Exploitation of Little People :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The Exploitation of Little People Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful maiden Pallid Powder amidst seven dwarfs.There was a dwarf who worked in a sideshow display at the local circus, a dwarf who was frequently cast by Galactic Studios for the dancing baby parts, and all the other dwarfs locked themselves in their isolated cabin in the woods so that the nearby villagers wouldn’t laugh.These snippets—both fictional and real—are all most people know about the lives of dwarfs, or little people as they prefer to be called.But Ursula Hegi’s novel Stones from the River suggests that dwarfs were stereotyped, and although the information I found was limited, I found enough to satisfy myself that many dwarfs in the past—and even today—have been exploited or treated unjustly by others. In order to understand why dwarfs are exploited, one must understand the genetic disorder itself.Dwarfism, according to the Little People of America Research Fund, â€Å"is the result of the disproportionate growth of the skeleton,† a condition mostly predetermined by the genetic code.Some symptoms, according to WebMD, include short stature, the appearance of a larger head, abnormally shaped hands, a waddling walk, along with â€Å"increased inward curve of [the] lower back making the buttocks appear more prominent (lordosis), and increased outward curve of [the] upper back making [the] back appear slightly hunched (kyphosis)† Clearly, dwarfs have physical differences that make everyday life more difficult for them—even without exploitation by others.The simplest aspects of life are often difficult for dwarfs.They have difficulties finding furniture to fit their small bodies, and household chores such as washing dishes become almost impossible without the use of a stool.Other things, such as finding clothing to fit or just being able to drive a car, are also difficult for them. But beyond the inevitable difficulties presented by their size, there are other ways that dwarfs—because of their size—are intentionally exploited by others.One way they are exploited is being used to make money for others.A researcher on the topic, Laurence Bathurst wrote in his reply to Judith Irving, a dwarf, about such mistreatment: There are some really gross and demeaning ways in which short statured people are exploited such as dwarf throwing contests, dwarf wrestling, and generally, the portrayal of short statured people in movies and television that endows them with ‘special’ characteristics (either evil or good). Circuses and sideshows use dwarfs as exhibits and often claim ownership of them as well.