Marks & Spencer: Midget Gems change name after academic's campaign

Marks & Spencer has changed the name of its Midget Gems sweets to avoid offending people with dwarfism after a campaign by a Liverpool academic.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-59981811

Utterly beggars belief...

Utterly beggars belief...

It shouldn't. "Little people", those with dwarfism, find the term insulting and demeaning. Midget has on ugly history, not unlike the "n" word. For those interested, there's plenty of information on the subject on the net.

Live with a name like the Washington Football Team for a year or too and you'll stop beggaring belief. Gotta go. My Pearl Milling Co. pancakes are ready.

dictionary.com --

ADJECTIVE:



very small.
"a midget submarine"
synonyms:
dwarf (https://www.bing.com/search?q=define+dwarf&FORM=DCTRQY) · miniature (https://www.bing.com/search?q=define+miniature&FORM=DCTRQY) · baby (https://www.bing.com/search?q=define+baby&FORM=DCTRQY) · diminutive (https://www.bing.com/search?q=define+diminutive&FORM=DCTRQY) · dwarfish (https://www.bing.com/search?q=define+dwarfish&FORM=DCTRQY) · petite (https://www.bing.com/search?q=define+petite&FORM=DCTRQY) · elfin (https://www.bing.com/search?q=define+elfin&FORM=DCTRQY) · very small · pocket (https://www.bing.com/search?q=define+pocket&FORM=DCTRQY) · toy (https://www.bing.com/search?q=define+toy&FORM=DCTRQY) · pygmy (https://www.bing.com/search?q=define+pygmy&FORM=DCTRQY) · fun-size (https://www.bing.com/search?q=define+fun-size&FORM=DCTRQY)


Now we have to burn all the books and movies, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (or rename them)? Also, the Elf on the Shelf? Miniature golf?

change the name to 'sweet shrimps '

I bet not one little person was ever offended by the name of the candy . Now this is offensive .

Zac Brown Midget Bowling - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePrai4FkoAw)

Gotta go. My Pearl Milling Co. pancakes are ready. Hilarious!


Midget has an ugly history, not unlike the "n" word.Only now, they own it.
In the same way; homosexuals took ownership of the word- Gay.

Now we have the dreaded "M" word!
Who doesn't love it when a midget enters the room? The very word "Midget" brings laughter and joy...own it!

change the name to 'sweet shrimps '

Sissy name for a football team! 8D

I call the Washington franchise 'The team formerly known as the Redskins '

Now we have to burn all the books and movies, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (or rename them)?

Dwarf is the preferred term. That was the point of my post. No one is renaming or canceling Dwarf. As someone who supports the various gender issues, I'm surprised at your take.

This is far more about context than anything else.
These sweets, clearly are midget in nature and they look like gems, so where's the issue ?
Surely they would be a problem if they were modeled on people, but they aren't.

What's next, jelly babies promoting cannibalism....

yup gotta change Baby Ruth and Butterfingers too. Rename the candy Tiny Treats

Dwarf is the preferred term. That was the point of my post. No one is renaming or canceling Dwarf. As someone who supports the various gender issues, I'm surprised at your take.
I was being silly!

I was being silly!

Sorry.


This is far more about context than anything else.

Wrong. It's about a discriminated group seeking some level of respect. Not unlike other groups that have been historically discriminated against.

Wrong. It's about a discriminated group seeking some level of respect. Not unlike other groups that have been historically discriminated against.

So where is the ink between small jelly sweets and people of reduced stature ?
The term midget is used in far more places than merely to describe people with Dwarfism, granted it does tend to be seen as its derogatory usage that is causing this problem, but this is extremely contextual, unlike many other like terms.

Being offended is the new cool .Victimhood is in .

The term midget is used in far more places than merely to describe people with Dwarfism, granted it does tend to be seen as its derogatory usage that is causing this problem, but this is extremely contextual, unlike many other like terms.

You are correct. I misread your first post. Sorry.

I imagine some navies still use midget submarines. Should they be renamed as well? Tiny submarines? At any rate, it seems that companies don't typically make these decisions on moral grounds. They do so out of fear of the work, or rather "woke", crowd causing a loss of business.

Being offended is the new cool. Victimhood is in

In our culture of victimhood, victims can be excused for victimizing others, taking away the rights, freedoms and autonomy of others, in service to their victimization.

It's pretty common, even de rigeur, for felons to proclaim that their history of victimization contributed to their harmful, illegal actions.
Probably the simplest thing we can do is get offended?
The question is; do you have a right to get offended?

Know that in every situation you have the choice to either get offended and journey down that self-destructive route called hatred, or simply choose to forgive and move along happily!

yes and in this intersectionality world everyone has the right to be oppressed and the oppressor at the same time .

everyone has the right to be oppressed and the oppressor at the same time .Yeah. Kind of like tolerance. I want you to tolerate me, but the heck with me tolerating you. It all remains as it's always been.

remake of Snow White
Snow White Remake Will Include Magical Creatures Instead of Dwarfs After Peter Dinklage Criticism (movieweb.com) (https://movieweb.com/snow-white-remake-will-include-magical-creatures-instead-of-dwarfs/?utm_source=MW-FB-P&utm_medium=Social-Distribution&utm_campaign=MW-FB-P&fbclid=IwAR1VGuSHc1qw_XytrZnEL3Sj8tpbV81TlsWSn-dXFSvXLg8oNHynm_bqNg8)
Instead of dwarfs, Disney will fill the void with a group of what they describe as “magical creatures,” according to casting sheets that TheWrap has seen. (They are currently looking for voice actors to give these creatures personality.) It’s unclear if they will inhabit the same roles as the dwarfs – will they be mining for jewels? Will they have names like Sleepy, Grumpy, and Bashful? – but these magical creatures will be the substitutes for the original seven dwarfs.”

remake of Snow White
Snow White Remake Will Include Magical Creatures Instead of Dwarfs After Peter Dinklage Criticism (movieweb.com) (https://movieweb.com/snow-white-remake-will-include-magical-creatures-instead-of-dwarfs/?utm_source=MW-FB-P&utm_medium=Social-Distribution&utm_campaign=MW-FB-P&fbclid=IwAR1VGuSHc1qw_XytrZnEL3Sj8tpbV81TlsWSn-dXFSvXLg8oNHynm_bqNg8)
Instead of dwarfs, Disney will fill the void with a group of what they describe as “magical creatures,” according to casting sheets that TheWrap has seen. (They are currently looking for voice actors to give these creatures personality.) It’s unclear if they will inhabit the same roles as the dwarfs – will they be mining for jewels? Will they have names like Sleepy, Grumpy, and Bashful? – but these magical creatures will be the substitutes for the original seven dwarfs.”

I can understand Dinklage's point here, but it gets worse as they have cast a person of south American origin as the lead. This deserves to be a flop. Disney really need to engage brain cell before releasing these live action remakes of classic.
What's next on the list, Song of the South....

It is just another attempt to applying 21st century ethos and morality on history . A dwarf in the context of the Brothers Grimm was from Germanic mythology . They were short ,bearded with child-like faces . They were incredibly strong and typically miners .
The story is true to the mythology .

This was also true of Tolkien's tales. The dwarfs were short bearded incredibly strong and brave . Gimli was as tough as they come .

In Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy he fights fiercely ;makes a friendship with the elf Legolas despite ancient hatreds between the 2 races .But Jackson used his height as a comic prop. I wonder if Jackson would be able to make the movies today in the current PC toxic atmosphere.
<sarc> You see the people of the 21st century are just so morally superior to the people of the past </sarc>

There is blow back from other dwarf actors who were counting on the opportunity to ger the roles that Disney wrote out of their PC version.

Dwarf actors slam Peter Dinklage for canceling seven dwarves | Daily Mail Online (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10449549/Dwarf-actors-slam-Peter-Dinklage-canceling-seven-dwarves.html)


'It makes me so sick to my stomach to think that there are seven roles for dwarfs that can't get normal acting roles, or very few and far between roles, and now they are gone because of this guy.
'Peter Dinklage is the biggest dwarf actor probably of all time but it doesn't make him king dwarf,' Dylan Postl, who played Hornswoggle the leprechaun in WWE for 10 years and has also acted in The Muppets, told DailyMail.com.
'When he was cast as a little person role in Lord of the Rings or in a Game of Thrones or in Elf or this that or the other thing... those checks cashed just fine.
'He had no issue then. But now he wants to be progressive? Come on man.'