A pub has announced it would be changing its name after a lecturer claimed its name was offensive.
The Midget in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, is named after the MG Midget car, which was manufactured at the former factory in the market town.
The pub, first opened in 1974 named The Magic Midget, however the word “Magic” was dropped in 2002.
Senior lecturer in disability studies at Liverpool Hope University Dr Erin Pritchard called for the pub to be renamed, saying the term midget was “disablist hate speech”.
The Midget has been forced to change its name
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Dr Pritchard, who previously convinced Marks & Spencer to drop the term midget from the name of Midget Gem sweets, started a petition calling for the pub to be renamed.
Speaking about the pub petition, she said: “I have dwarfism and like the majority of people with dwarfism find the word offensive. I doubt anyone would tolerate a pub with a name containing an equally derogatory slur against another group of disabled people or an ethnic minority.”
Greene King, the brewing company which owns the pub, has now agreed to change the name to The Roaring Raindrop.
The pub’s new name commemorates another MG car, the EX 181. In 1957, the EX181 set a land speed record of 245.6 mph over a distance of 1km and was the last record-breaking vehicle produced by the company.
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The Midget in Oxfordshire
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Managing director of Greene King pubs Zoe Bowley said the company had thought “long and hard” about the name.
She said: “We hope that making the change in this way helps to preserve our pub’s historic links to Abingdon’s past while simultaneously ensuring our pub can be a place where everyone feels welcome.”
Dr Pritchard said it was “good to see” the brewery was “open to addressing concerns about disablist hate speech.”
The word has been widely viewed as a derogatory term towards people with dwarfism. Actor Warwick Davis posted on social media in 2017: “The use of the word ‘midget’ is not appropriate and is considered very offensive if targeted at someone with dwarfism. Its use is best avoided in all circumstances. Thank you.”
An MG Midget in 1961
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Dr Pritchard had previously appeared in the Channel 4 programme, Dating with Dwarfism, in which she talked about some of the relationship issues experienced by those with the condition.
In her book “Disability Hate Speech”, she argues that the word midget should be seen as a form of hate speech due to its origins in Victorian freak shows.
Speaking about her book, “Midgetism: The Exploitation and Discrimination of People with Dwarfism” she told Nation Cymru: “I hate the word midget with a passion so I thought I want a word that can be used to describe all the exploitative and discrimination that we, as people with dwarfism, experience.
“People might not know but midget is a word popularised in the Victorian freak show. I’ve been using it in this new book to explore and analyse the exploitative entertainment that still exists today and is very reflective of the freak show.”
