From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

Entertainers from the Micro Wrestling Federation say they enjoy their work as “midget wrestlers,” but the Little People of America group asserts that the shows reinforce stereotypes.

Gary Arnold, vice president of public relations for the Little People of America, a 6,000-member national organization which advocates for people with dwarfism, said the word “midget” is degrading and that “events such as midget wrestling reinforce archaic stereotypes; specifically that it is acceptable to objectify and gawk at people based upon physical difference.”

The Micro Wrestling Federation expects to perform 125 shows across the nation this year and can charge up to $25 per ticket for an audience of 500 adults. Each wrestler is under contract and receives a cut of photo sales and merchandise, like T-shirts that say “I Support Midget Violence.”

“People don’t come for the wrestling,” said federation owner Jack Darrell. “They come to see the midgets.”

(Star-Telegram photo)

This entry was posted on Monday, March 9th, 2009 at 6:38 am and is filed under dwarfism/little people, entertainment, personal stories, public attitudes, stereotypes, stigma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.