ABSTRACT
‘Midget’ remains a popular term used to describe people with dwarfism within the entertainment industry, especially within lowbrow entertainment, as with the examples of ‘midget wrestling’ and ‘midget tossing’. This chapter demonstrates why ‘midget’ should actually be seen as a form of hate speech due to its origins and the way it is used towards people with dwarfism in society. It focuses on the origins of the term in the Victorian freak show. The chapter focuses on how the freak show has left an unwanted and harmful legacy in terms of encouraging the term to be used in society, from lowbrow entertainment to a myriad of products. The purpose of the freak show was to expose those whose body deviated from the norm in a way that their physical traits dominated the entire person on exhibit. ‘Midget’ is a term that originates from the freak show in order to separate those with disproportionate dwarfism from those with proportionate dwarfism.
