I'm going to offend some people with this post. I'll probably get some hate mail and some harsh comments and may even lose some regular readers. That sucks but it's also the way of the world. If you have an opinion there are going to be people who disagree with it. If you can state it in an obsequious manner you'll probably do okay. People will line up to defend a timid speaker. Be nice, they'll say. He's wrong but it's because he's confused. Explain it to him in simple terms and you'll see that he's not truly evil. If, however, you happen to be the sort of person who states his opinion in a raw and coldhearted fashion then you'll piss off many folks. Even some who might ordinarily support your position. Can you guess which one I am? Let's begin:
Midgets Need To Get Their Heads Out of Their Asses
I saw a special presentation about an operation that little people(TM) can undergo in order to get taller. It involves implanting an external metal brace into the long bones of the legs. The bones are broken and separated. The bracing is then continuously lengthened. The healing process of the broken bones causes them to grow towards each other. As the gap of the break is consistently maintained the effect is a gradual lengthening of the legs.
It's painful. It takes a long time. It's good for only a couple of inches. There are many post-procedure problems including weakened bones, arthritis, bone and muscle pain. Sense of balance is seriously compromised and the patient is clumsy and awkward for quite some time.
One of the patients who was interviewed told of all of these problems but dismissed them as negligible. You see, he can now do things like drive an unmodified car. He can ride on a roller coaster. He uses the cupboards at his apartment. In fact his only regret about having the procedure is that he is now an outcast from his community. You see, those jokes on Seinfeld about little people(tm) "heightening" weren't jokes. It really is viewed as a serious breach of etiquette to wear tall shoes or otherwise compensate for (lack of) height. Having this operation makes a little person an outcast from the little person community.
This leads to an obvious question which I will direct to the little community at large:
How do you get such an oversized head so firmly implanted in your anal sphincter? Come the fuck on! It's a birth defect. It is not normal to be a midget/dwarf/little fellow. It is neither amoral or foolish for somebody with a birth defect to use devices and procedures to overcome that defect. Should somebody born with one arm forgo a prosthetic one? If I had a procedure that cured Downs Syndrome do you think that all of the Downs' afflicted out there would rally to attack a person who went through that procedure because they wanted to be normal?
YOU ARE NOT NORMAL. Get it through your skulls. I'm not saying that you should be ashamed of being small. I'm saying that you shouldn't be carrying around a chip on your vertically challenged shoulder because of it. It's a birth defect, a freak happening of nature, one of the more common of literally thousands of documented and understood genetic mishaps. It should not be either a badge of honor or a Sysephean burden.
If you have a chance to correct it then do so! And if you are so wrapped up in a communal pity party that you can't bear the thought of fixing what's wrong with you then at least have the fucking courtesy to support somebody with the courage to do so himself. The way that guy was treated, the exposure of the intollerance and antagonism in the little community, was sickening. He showed bravery and courage, going through a painful procedure in order to make his life better, already knowing that his friends would turn on him. He didn't deserve the way he was treated and to be quite frank those "friends" certainly didn't deserve him.
Fire away.
UPDATE: I wrote this quite a while ago and never posted it. Generally I try not to post things when I'm pissed about the subject. A decent rant is fine but when I'm very irritated I tend to get more insulting than descriptive so a "Jim is pissed" post generally won't do anything constructive. I figured that I would let it sit and revisit it, edit it in a calm voice and then post it. It ended up getting lost and forgotten until yesterday. I looked it over with the intent of editing out the more inflammatory insults and profanity but have decided to present it as-is instead. It's not as overwhelmingly antagonistic as I thought when I first wrote it and the anger the subject raised in me back then has been fairly well rekindled by rereading it.
The way that guy was treated, the exposure of the intollerance and antagonism in the little community, was sickening.
You probably don't want to hear this from me, as I'm known for being, ah, comfortably reconciled to my own anger levels, but just personally, it's those things that sicken you that are truly worth becoming angry about.
I have read that a similar phenomenon exists among some deaf people, and that they can be just as vicious to those among them who seek treatments that may help them to hear.
That's just wrong.
I say be angry, be insulting. But I realize that'd probably mean more to you if a more sweet-natured person like Helen said it, so I'll shut up--we could all pretty much bank on my support, right?
Oh, Ilyka. You're a sweetheart and we all know it. ;-)
And it's good having your support no matter what people expect.
I had heard something about the deaf rejection of hearing aids as well but it was just an isolated thing or two (a court case of a child suing his parents who had forbidden cochlear implants comes to mind). I've no idea how widespread such behavior might be with the hearing impaired.
Me? I'm sweet-natured? Really?
Damn. I had no idea. And all this time I thought I was a shoo-in for "Meanest Female Blogger" (at http://bloggerpolls.blogspot.com/2003_11_01_bloggerpolls_archive.html#106884865105801529)
I can comment on the hearing impaired thing (because I am, actually, hearing impaired). Cochlear implants are rejected by most deaf communities, but hearing aids are ok. By the way, there is a massive debate on if people are "deaf" or "hearing impaired". Say it to the wrong group, and you are toast. Personally, I don't care which term you use. I think there are more important things in life to get wound up about.
I don't have enough knowledge of the subject to comment intelligently but that's never stopped me before, so:
Aren't cochlear implants basically for people with such hearing problems that more conventional aids can't really help them? So that particular stigma would prevent corrective action only on the people who need it the most. That seems pretty coldblooded and even hypocritical - sort of an "I've got some hearing loss and can use an aid. You're deaf but if you get an implanted aid then I'll be pissed at you." Unless I'm wrong. Which happens more frequently that you probably imagine.
And yes, Helen, you're a sweetie too.
Hmm, I work with a midget, I should ask him. Incidently, he and his midget wife just had a kid.. wonder if thier kid will be a midget kid? And also, I should find out if he likes to be tossed. I could use a good bout of midget tossing(in the picking them up and throwing sense, not the sexual sense).
Here I was all set to say something serious and then pylorns starts babbling about tossing midgets.
Oh well. Re: deaf people being against treatment, yeah, there are some. Excerpt from the main page:
The culturally Deaf person does not want to be able to hear normally, by medical intervention or other means.
Personally, I think that's wack, but it's ultimately fine with me--or would be, did I not suspect that at least a few of the culturally deaf are belittling the traitors who DO want to be able to hear normally.
Say it to the wrong group, and you are toast.
I hate things like that. People make mistakes. It's not always easy to tell what the preferred terminology is for a given subculture.
Say it to the wrong group, and you are toast.
But it really doesn't matter, because they can't hear you anyway.....
.
.
.
.
Oh, come on... you know that was funny.
I'm going to hell.....
The culturally Deaf person does not want to be able to hear normally, by medical intervention or other means.
Sounds sort of like the Angry Left.
Wait for me, Mike!
I keep coming back to the "Culturally Deaf". I can understand a desire to be comfortable as you are. I really cannot comprehend a desire to intentionally restrict your growth though.
I can picture weighing benefits against possible problems (any surgery has possible complications) and determining that something like an implant is not worth the danger. I can't imagine a weighing factor in that decision being the desire to retain a debilitating physical defect.
Mike, I always honk when I drive through a "deaf" area, you know those signs that say "slow deaf child at play"
Being castigated for attempting to overcome a birth defect is, as Jim so rantingly wrote, stupid. Do dyslexics harp on their buddies who get help to overcome their issues? Do speech impaired people (of which I was one for a few years, who knew there were other letters besides R?) lisp angrily at those that seek help?
Some may consider it a badge of honor or whatever but there's no way they can justifiably set their norms on other little people, just like I can't hold others to my own morals, the game just doesn't work that way.
And if it did then I'd be blind because I wouldn't be able to wear contacts or glasses, and I'd have likely broken my nose a few times by now from walking into things (which reminds me of a bad joke that I'll pass on for now).
Good rant, Jim! Keep 'em coming!
Oh, come on... you know that was funny.
So much so that I'm pissed I didn't think of it first.
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