Political correctness?
A work colleague informed of a newspaper story, where someone in the theatre suggested that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, should be changed to Snow White and her Seven Friends, so as not to offend dwarfs. You can imagine my consternation at this shocking revelation.
I would like to have gathered some empirical evidence, but I couldn’t find a single dwarf to interview in North London. Either, I wasn’t looking in the right place, or perhaps there’s a dwarf-shortage in North London. I might have better luck at Christmas. Rumour has it that they tend to appear during the pantomime season.
But in the interests of political correctness, why stop at Snow White and her Seven Friends. Surely, the name Snow White, will be offensive to many non-white people. I believe I have a solution. Keep the Snow, but lose the White, which I think is a fair compromise. I, also believe I have solved the Dwarf crisis as well.
I suggest that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, be changed to, Snow Green (apologies to any Martians visiting the planet) and the Seven People of Restricted Growth.
Are there any fairytale titles that you find offensive? What ones would you like to change?
Adrian, I doubt you looked VERY hard in North London for a dwarf. I have seen them there... and elsewhere.
If you want to read a good novel which describes the atrocious behaviour some people mete out to dwarves, I recommend Maybe the Moon, a 1992 novel by Armistead Maupin.
The story Maupin describes as 'partly autobiographical', despite the main character being a female heterosexual Jewish dwarf. [Maupin is a homosexual man. The novel is really about ALL outsiders.] The character was also based on his friend Tamara De Treaux, who was the actor for E.T. [She died before the book was published, perhaps before it was written. The dedication to her is particularly touching.]
Aside from the sentences within square brackets, the above paragraph comes from wikipedia.
In the book, a dwarf, whose only claim to fame was her being inside a latex and metal character, "Mr. Wood", struggles to be accepted as a good actress and NOT get typecast. The parallels with "E.T." are clear. The portrayal of "Mr. Wood" 's director - a Spielberg clone - is devastating.
Read it and you MIGHT just understand the motive behind that newspaper story.
@ Adrian: Dwarves are not only mythical creatures who inhabit fairy tales.
Definition of dwarf in English: noun (plural dwarfs or dwarves /dwɔːvz/)
1(In folklore or fantasy literature) a member of a mythical race of short, stocky human-like creatures who are generally skilled in mining and metalworking.
1.1A person who is of unusually or abnormally small stature because of a medical condition; a person affected by dwarfism.
1.2 offensive A very short person.
Notice that definition 1.2? And 1.1?
People who can't speak are called dumb. Stupid people are also called dumb. PROBABLY because at some time in the past people who couldn't speak were considered stupid. Many voiceless people find this expression offensive. Can you blame them?
I can well imagine "a person affected by dwarfism" to resent comparisons with mythical creatures... often portrayed as greedy and quarrelsome.