ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies and explores the metanarrative of dwarfism using an autoethnographic approach that reveals implications for society. The focus is on three strands of the metanarrative, which are all connected by heightism. First, the language of the media is found to reinforce the belief that smallness is an inferior trait within society. Second, the humorous construction of dwarfism, such as the character Mini-me, is critiqued via the film Elf (2003). Third, drawing on ‘Maybe the Moon’ and ‘Mendal’s dwarf’, the chapter shows how people with dwarfism are constructed as asexual due to infantalizing perceptions. The author draws on personal experience to demonstrate how the metanarrative plays out in society.
