ABSTRACT
Dwarfism is characterized as an identity of contradictions. Social ideologies dictating acceptable appearances marginalize people of extremely short stature as the “other” and shame their bodies. At the social level, people with dwarfism have to manage physical negotiations within everyday spaces due to the physical limitations of their condition and the cultural structuring of the places themselves. This chapter explores the ways in which identities of people with dwarfism come to be crystallized through social ideologies regarding dwarfism, their personal experiences of the physical spaces that marginalize them, and the ways in which they respond to, and challenge the dominant norms of height and exclusionary practices in an ableist patriarchal society. While disability identity is itself stigmatized, gender identity often adds to this experience of marginalization in social life in different ways. This chapter presents narratives of four individuals with dwarfism and examines ways in which gender and ability discourses mediate the experiences of these people both in private and public spaces.
