Its no joke!.....The Gallery Magazine IOM is short on ideas and should not tackle sensitive issues through comedy and entertainment to gain a few laughs! Unfortunately prejudice and discrimination does still exist, which was highlighted in their September Issue of the The Gallery Magazine. I am sad to report a recent article entitled “Dwarf? Midget? Porg?” was published. To launch their compact edition of the magazine, they felt it would be appropriate to categories people of short stature. The wording was inaccurate and totally unacceptable, which showed an overwhelming lack of research and a misguided view, including silly pictures and compact joke, a very poor piece of journalism. Weve worked extremely hard to raise awareness of dwarfism on the Island, sending out a positive message, one of equality and respect. This has sadden us immensely. If they had substituted the word “dwarf” with that of another disability or genetic condition such as “Down Syndrome” Would that be ok? The Gallery endorse stereotyping and still think it is ok, to poke fun and ridicule a person with restricted growth. There was no point to the article other than to cause hurt, and we have decided to take this matter very seriously and make a stand. We have challenged the organisation and asked them to explain themselves, their views and what they were hoping to achieve. This article could have been portrayed in such a nice, positive way rather than the tasteless, demeaning, and outdated form that they choose to do it in. Sadly, we do come across silly stories about dwarfism from time to time, most or which we ignore, this we can not. Karen and I have received overwhelming support over the last few days, and we want to offer our heartfelt thanks and gratitude, please continue. If you feel your reaction is similar to ours. Could I ask for your help in sending an email of complaint. If so, please direct your email of concern to Steve Redmond [email protected] or [email protected]. Should you require any assistance, contact either myself or Karen through a private message, or message us here. We can only hope for a full, frank and honest apology. A retraction of their article and public apology in putting the wrong, right. So while The Gallery have been obsessing about “dwarfs and “short” celebrities, Finleys Footsteps has been tackling some BIG projects! Dwarfism awareness month is just around the corner....we have been gathering a collection of educational books and stories. Positive books, presenting people as people, with names and not labels. We will be donating them to primary and secondary schools on the Island, including local libraries during the month of October....so Id best get back to work! Thank you for your continued support x
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 10:20:14 +0000
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