You can see by my headline this is an article about -- smallness. I can speak from experience on this because I have a dwarfism and one of the things that come along with that is short stature. I am (my college height) 4' tall. And, apparently, at 47, the very idea of this has some folks baffled. Rosie O'Donnell and Chelsea Handler recently had a meeting of the minds, on this idea, that an adult could be very small, yet still have a job and children and sex and not really be "like a kid." Well let me append that, Chelsea did feel that having sex with one would be like "child abuse."
On Thursday, Feb. 8, on the Oprah Winfrey Network's, The Rosie Show, Rosie O'Donnell opened up, that she had a fear of Little People to Chelsea Handler, a well-known hugger, squeezer, biter (but not dater -- no!) and self-described savior of at least one or two "little nuggets." I commend you Rosie for your vulnerability, and who better to open up to, than someone who likes to do all of those things with us. No Rosie, don't discuss this with other Little People (we're scary) or even a therapist, you've got Chelsea ("Did-you-do-one -- NO!") Handler in the house. Chelsea is at the forefront of small thinking.
Well, we are a very funny group of people. For example, with his achondroplastic dwarfism, Dr. Michael Ain, Orthopedic Surgeon and Associate Professor of Surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, made at least 20 medical school registrars laugh when he applied and they rejected him. Funny! I mean who hasn't pictured Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor and economic adviser to Bill Clinton with his multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, dressed in baby clothes smoking a cigar. It's a riot. And, the zany antics of Paul Steven Miller, Harvard Law J.D., EEOC head under President Clinton, who helped administer the American's With Disabilities Act and special assistant to Barack Obama, who was told by one law firm that their clients would think they were "running a freak show." Oh yeah, we got funny down, baby. (By the way, thank you Chelsea, for securing those positions for these outstanding, albeit funny, professionals).
There was so much amazement at what could possibly come out of a pregnant little person woman -- a baby, that you both forgot to acknowledge what was truly amazing, what came out of both of you during this interview. And Chelsea was there yet again with her genetic expertise in discussing that "sometimes two smalls make a tall."
We're not really coming for you, Rosie. Don't be afraid. I know your nana wants you to honor this fear, based on ignorance, that dates back to at least 1939. I know you haven't, up to now, 2012, despite your many other minority advocacies, attempted to reconcile this minority prejudice. I am grateful for the magic of Chelsea's guiding words. I am forever in her debt as not just our savior but yours, with her soon-to-air intervention with you and Chuy (which I can't wait to see).
When did we decide we need to muzzle comedians? I don't even mean good comedians, but people who are trying to be funny. How about just don't tune in once you've caught on to the fact that they suck. The opposite reaction got Rosie on the front of AOL/ MSN and the lips of people at water coolers (scary image). You tell me which is more effective.
However, this is about respect. Respecting people for who they are, meaning the ... I don't know the acceptable terms ... vertically challenged(?).
Also however, when someone is trying to be funny, there is something to think about... all humor is based on SOMEONE getting hurt. Think of any joke (practical jokes are obviously in the 'getting hurt classification') and analyze it closely. In every case, someone either gets hurt or has their feelings hurt in some way, and people laugh. It's the way we are built, I don't know why.
So, when someone tells a Polish joke (I'm Polish, and have heard them all, more than once), I can laugh, but doing it repeatedly gets on my nerves. I can appreciate someone that is somehow different than the majority of us not appreciating bad comedians making fun, but just remember, all humor is based on someone getting hurt. There's no cure for bad taste (and I mean Rosie and Chelsea).
She's a mean, awful BULLY.
Signed,
Desperate for viewers Oprah.
My 18 month old son Bennett, born with achondroplasia, was my first glimpse into a culture which I was otherwise oblivious to. When evaluating Rosie and Chelsea's comments I have tried to be fair, remembering that before Bennett's diagnosis I too was a culprit of this sort of ignorance, using the "M-word", for instance, with no understanding whatsoever how inappropriate I was being by doing so. My bottom line on this affair is that while Rosie may in fact have a legitimate anxiety about smaller statured people, her decision to air her fear publicly -- obviously aware of its entertainment value -- was terrible, mainly because it was made at the expense of persons with this particular disability and their loving communities. Chelsea's contributions.... wow.... I just shook my head in complete disbelief. It was like listening to someone tell one racist joke after another, "KKK this", "N-word that"..... and all you can do is feel really uncomfortable and wonder how in the world this person got this far in life (read: 20-freaking-12) without someone explaining to them that NO, what they are saying is simply NOT okay.
I hope the message gets through. In the meantime, I commend you for demonstrating dignity and approaching this appalling demonstration of inconsideration with good humor. Big of you, to say the least.
Dennis in New Orleans
I'll never understand how Oprah, supoosedly a "caring" person, could hire such a mean "BULLY."