The Truth About Dwarfism (Hint: It’s No Different From Humanity)

The measure of a man is not his height

The author.

I stand 48 inches tall in my stocking feet.

That doesn’t mean I’m a halfling who needs pitying, pampering, or fetishizing. Nor am I an inspiration. I’m a human being trying to figure out this thing called life one step at a time, just like you. As for a politically correct label to affix to me (remember that no one likes to be referred to by a label), my first name will work almost every time. But if you’re in search of a term to describe my most noticeable physical feature, “hot” is always welcome (just kidding). “Short” or “short-statured” both work, but “Little Person” is the preferred term.

I find it strange that people interpret my silence as me being unaffected by the looks, stares, pointing, giggling, and countless other feeble attempts and not-so-subtle ways people attempt to demean me. Perhaps my silence belies the strength that comes from successfully thriving under the weight of challenges that might crush their soul to smithereens before they reached the first 100 yards of walking a mile in my shoes. I just choose to take the high road.

While the chances are slim to nil that I will get a major league sports deal, there are dozens — if not hundreds — of other career options available to me to which I am better suited. After all, the measure of a man is not his height. A color palette of only red, yellow, blue, and black in the hands of a novice is a limited range of colors; that palette in the hands of an experienced artist means a vibrant painting with a spectrum of color. I’ve worked in several fields in the visual and performing arts, and I like to think I can string a word or two together.

Like so many other anomalies of human nature, dwarfism is one of the ways God reflects the humanity in us all.

After my first few years on the planet, I was well aware that I was shorter than the general population. But for some incomprehensible reason, there are still a few cretins out there who feel the need to tell me that I am “adorable,” “cute,” “fun-sized,” “little,” “short,” “small,” “tiny,” or how much they’d like just to pick me up and love on…