The F word, the B word, the C word... The M word?

As a kid growing up, your parents or who ever was your primary care giver probably taught you not to say bad words.  You were scolded over and over by parents, teachers, and mentors if you ever said something remotely six lettered.  By the time you got to middle school people were throwing these words around like it was nothing.  Cause you're an adult at 12 right?  Yeah I was there too.  But as this blog implies, I had a bit of a different experience.  And by different, I mean different from the average or more common experience.

I'll preface the main scoop of this blog post by touching upon a psychology thing.  For those of you who don't know, I majored in psychology in college, so the way people think and feel is constantly peppered into my thoughts and actions.  I'll use the example one of my favorite professors used:

Basically we have function in our body, related to homeostasis that keeps us from freaking out and flying off the handle when we encounter things.  When you first met your current significant other, you would get butterflies when you saw them.  Your face would burn up, and you'd trip over your words.  For those of my independent friends, think about when you first encountered your current pet.  When you first saw them you'd get so excited, maybe talk some baby talk.  Any way, have you ever noticed how these reactions sort of dull down after a while?  Well it's your body being like "whoa friend, calm down, this is normal".  The same thing happens when you throw around cuss words and what not.

People throw around words a lot.  One word that I still have a gut wrench reaction to is midget. There's a super great online resource called lpaonline.org that I strongly encourage y'all to check out if you're intrigued by any and all things dwarf.  They talk about the"m" word.  When asked about the word midget, lpaonline.org responds with: "In some circles, a midget is the term used for a proportionate dwarf. However, the term has fallen into disfavor and is considered offensive by most people of short stature. The term dates back to 1865, the height of the "freak show" era, and was generally applied only to short-statured persons who were displayed for public amusement, which is why it is considered so unacceptable today" (lpaonline.org).

Think of it like you do ethnic slurs.  A long time ago, people with dwarfism were often in side shows with freak shows and such.  Dwarves were exploited for being so small.  Long story short, midget does not really come from a loving place, just like ethnic slurs.  And yes, today there are still people that dance around like fools and they like that.  And that's their choice.  We'll have a blog post on that stuff soon, don't you worry your pretty little minds.

There are some people who are anatomically proportionate and very much below average height.  These people may identify as midgets.  However, if someone is diagnosed with dwarfism, they usually tend to want to go by dwarf, little person, person of short stature, the list goes on.  But I promise from my own experience, they probably don't want you to call them a midget.  Just like a smaller person that I described before might not want to be referred to as a dwarf, and that's okay.  It is their right to be called what they want to be called.  And it is our duty as good people, to respect these preferences.  What do I hate?  Assumptions (I imagined there was a resounding response of the word "assumptions" as I posed this question, since I often drill it into y'all's heads).

There have been a lot of times where I've been the victim of the use of the "m" word.  One that stands out in particular is when I was in middle school.  No one gets through middle school or high school unscathed.  I unfortunately was a little chubby, had acne, glasses, was sweaty ALL THE TIME, and I was short.  One day, I was going to my next class and I noticed things were falling from the landing.  Being the studious type I didn't pay any mind to it, and I kept on going to class.  Later I find the teacher that I was previously in class with running to my next class to come find me.  He reports to me that people were throwing pencils at me and yelling "hit the midget".

As that soaks in, take a look at this happy lil' baby otter to make you feel a bit better





Anywho.  To tie this all up in a neat weird little bow: be mindful of your words, no matter who you're talking to, or about.  There's honestly no need to call anyone anything with ill intent.  Yeah, people are going to cut you off in traffic, and they're going to but ahead of you in line, and they're going to forget to say thank you.  It doesn't give you the right to call them anything.  There's no need to prove yourself through actions of bad taste.  Rather, be the bigger person and wow people through your positive actions.  Make someone think "wow, that person is pretty cool, I wouldn't have been able to handle that situation like that".

So this blog's assignment: be the better person.  Be cool, by not feeling the need to prove yourself in vile ways.  Intervene where necessary, but don't be a busy body know it all.  Just be yourself, the person that old you would be proud to talk about to your grandchildren.

Peace, love, and otters my friends

Laura