Society Personified....

Society:

     "Hey Midget!...Look at the funny looking Midget!....It's a fat Midget...Stupid Midget...Midgets are funny...Midget Tossing....Midget Wrestling...Midget Porn....Midgets are entertaining...Look at the group of Midgets!...You're a Midget....Midget's are awesome...It's just a word, you're a midget, deal with it....Stop being so sensitive Midget...Midget is a medical term....I want to sleep with a Midget...I hate Midgets...Midgets scare me....Angry Midgets....etc..."

These are just some of the phrases I have heard and will continue to hear and see in my life.  It is not a word I have heard once or twice.  I have heard and seen it in print as well as online hundreds of time. It is just a word right? I thought maybe if I typed Midget enough, I would become desensitized; no, It did not work.  I thought maybe if I typed Midget enough, it would not make me cringe; no, I cringed at every word.  I thought if maybe I typed Midget enough, it would take away some painful childhood memories; no, they are still there.  Some LP's (Little People) feel the dwarfism organization is making us hate the term.  No, I can say I've hated the term from early on, way before my involvement with any type of organization.   It is the sound of the word, the way it is said, the connotation, and the history behind it.

Society:

    "Okay, so what do you people want to be called?....Little People?! Dwarf?! Now that is degrading, now that would insult me....Why can't your group pick a name and stick with it?....It's just a word, stop being so sensitive!...You need to toughen up....You need to learn to laugh at yourself....I'm bald and people make comments, so why can't you deal with it..."


Monique:

"Society, unless you are in my shoes, you do not earn the right to tell me how one word impacts me.  Until you are in my shoes, you have no right to tell me how to "experience" my dwarfism.   Society, the term Midget was thrown onto myself and my group.   WE chose Little People, it was us, it was majority of us who have embraced that term, for us, not you, us...
Society, the term Midget is not and has never been a medical term, in spite of what you think you "know."  Dwarfism is the appropriate medical term for the over 200 types, whether it is proportionate or disproportionate.  Please do not assume you are an expert on this.  If someone tells you how they want to be addressed, accept it, and be respectful, in spite of how you personally feel. Sorry, it is not about you.


Hey, look at the Midget!   Hey, look at the N*gger!   Hey, look at the Sp*c!   Hey, look at the K*ke!

N*gger tossing...Funny looking K*ke!... Sp*cs are stupid...

Is it just as funny when you substitute the word Midget?
Would you shout at someone   "Hey N*gger!?...
Would you let your child say "Hey Mommy, look at the gimp?"  

Those terms are equally hateful,  ignorant, and ugly.  

Society, if I can ask you a question...Why do you feel the need to treat me like I am subhuman?  Why is it when you see me, my humanity fades away and I am a thing for you to treat poorly?  Why is your first instinct to laugh at me?   Why is my dwarfism so funny to you?    Do you think I do not hear your comments?  I do.
When you take pictures of me on your cell phone, do you think I do not notice?  Believe me, I do.
Society, I am short, but in no way am I simple minded, deaf, or blind, to your ignorance.   Society, you have made me stronger than you can even begin to imagine.  I may stay silent many times, but do not take my silence as being submissive to your ignorance, I have just learned to pick my battles wisely.

Society, I will let you in on a little secret...This is not the 1880s, 1920s, or 1950s.  I am past getting my foot in the door, instead I am making my way to the top floor. Please be part of the solution and we can work together to achieve social equality, or get out of my way, but no matter what, I am making my way in life with or without you.  I've got my red cape on with a big D!   Dwarf...Determined....Destined...Dynamic...darn amazing!  (had to throw that in there.)  Society, I may not physically fit into your world, and my quick thinking has helped me with that, however, you do not fit into mine either.  I have no room in my own world for your lack of morals and empathy.   The thing is, there will always be a group challenging you.  Groups from the past have overcame you, and someday my group will as well.  History has shown me so.  I choose not to alter my body to conform to you, I choose not to become depressed or self-loathing because I do not fit your status-quo image.  I am the status-quo for my life.

Society, I do understand there are some who do not know it is offensive.  That is alright, my problem is not with the uneducated, as I myself am uneducated on a few things.  My problem is with the cruel, the ignorant, and the inconsiderate.   
In this day and age, do I really need to remind you I am a human being like you?  Do I really have to remind you I have feelings, and when you objectify me into nothingness for your amusement, it hurts? You may pity me and think I struggle, but in reality I pity you Society and your sad state of being. How are you so remedial while individuals are so advanced?"

Someday I would love to hear: 

  "Hey...look at Monique!....Look at that fun and amazing person!...There she goes...Monique is entertaining....Monique looks great...Monique is educated....Monique is hard working...Monique is a good person....Monique has a good heart....



Or...preferably......                                                silence
                        

The sound of silence will be the most amazing sound I have yet to hear.  I will always physically stand out, but socially, I will blend in.  Blending in to the peaceful sound of silence...