Dwarf tossing is a bar attraction in which dwarfs wearing special padded clothing or Velcro costumes are thrown onto mattresses or at Velcro-coated walls.[1] Participants compete to throw the dwarf the farthest. The term "dwarf throwing" is sometimes used.
Legality
[edit]Canada
In Ontario, Canada, the Dwarf Tossing Ban Act, 2003 (also known as Bill 97) was introduced by Windsor West MPP Sandra Pupatello, and was carried at its first reading.[2] This private member's public bill did not proceed to second or third readings, nor did it receive royal assent, and therefore died at the close of the 37th Legislature.[2] The bill proposed a fine of not more than $5000, imprisonment of not more than six months, or both. The bill was hastily tabled in response to a dwarf tossing contest[3] that was held at Leopard's Lounge in Windsor, Ontario with a dwarf nicknamed "Tripod".[4]
[edit]France
The mayor of a small town (Morsang-sur-Orge) in France, prohibited dwarf tossing. The case went through the appeal chain of administrative courts to the Conseil d'État, which found that an administrative authority could legally prohibit dwarf tossing on grounds that the activity did not respect human dignity and was thus contrary to public order.[5] The question raised legal questions as to what was admissible as a motive for an administrative authority to ban an activity for motives of public order, especially as the conseil did not want to include "public morality" in public order. The ruling was taken by the full assembly and not a smaller panel—proof of the difficulty of the question.[6] The conseil ruled similarly in another case between an entertainment company and the city of Aix-en-Provence.[7]
The UN High Commissioner on Human Rights judged on September 27, 2002, that the decision was not discriminatory with respect to dwarfs. It ruled the ban on dwarf tossing was not abusive, but necessary to protect public order, including considerations of human dignity.[citation needed]
Nevertheless, dwarf tossing is not necessarily prohibited outright in France. The Conseil d'État decided that a public authority could use gross infringement on human dignity as a motive of public order to cancel a spectacle, and that dwarf tossing constituted such a gross infringement. However, it is up to individual authorities to make specific decisions regarding prohibition. It remains to be seen whether an administration's refusal could be litigated against if a local administration refuse to take action against dwarf tossing.[citation needed]
[edit]United States
Robert and Angela Van Etten, Florida members of the Little People of America, convinced the state's legislators in 1989 that dwarf tossing be made illegal. A measure banning dwarf tossing was passed with a wide margin.[8] New York later followed suit.[9]
A lawsuit filed in a U.S. District Court by Dave Flood, who appears on a morning radio talk show as "Dave the Dwarf," names Governor Jeb Bush and the head of the state agency that enforces the 1989 law allowing the state to fine or revoke the liquor license of a bar that allows dwarf tossing. The sport was popular in some Florida bars in the late 1980s.
[edit]Popular culture references to dwarf tossing
In The Lord of the Rings film trilogy at the broken bridge in the Mines of Moria, Gimli tells Aragorn, "Nobody tosses a dwarf!" before jumping over a large gap himself. Later, at the Battle of Helm's Deep, Gimli allows Aragorn to throw him over a narrow defile to battle Saruman's armies after making Aragorn promise to never mention the act to Legolas. The director's commentary in the special extended DVD edition of The Fellowship of the Ring debates whether the sport originated in the United Kingdom or Australia. The director's commentary goes on to say that the writing team did not realize that dwarf tossing is not as common in the United States and other regions as it is in New Zealand, and thus did not anticipate that many fans ultimately did not know what the joke was referring to.
I see a few potential issues:
1. Libertarian, two consenting adults entering into a contract with safety gear in check.
2. Safety, the safety of the little person is placed into jeopardy, ergo it must be made illegal to protect the safety and security of the little person.
3. Human dignity for little people, if some are used as entertainment icons they would be seen more as lesser human beings and marginalized.
So what is the morality of dwarf tossing and should it be legal as a form of entertainment sport?
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Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.
Individualities may form communities, but it is institutions alone that can create a nation.
Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success.
Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.
1. Libertarian, two consenting adults entering into a contract with safety gear in check.
2. Safety, the safety of the little person is placed into jeopardy, ergo it must be made illegal to protect the safety and security of the little person.
3. Human dignity for little people, if some are used as entertainment icons they would be seen more as lesser human beings and marginalized.
So what is the morality of dwarf tossing and should it be legal as a form of entertainment sport?
Morally, dwarf-tossing is degrading and abhorrent. But so are sleazy strip joints, reality TV shows, and gay-pride parades. So I can't see a human dignity argument flying legally. A safety argument might have better grounding, but only if dwarf-tossing is more dangerous than, say, boxing. I have no idea whether or not this is the case.
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Vive, vale. Siquid novisti rectius istis,
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
I think people need to realize the difference between thinking something is wrong and thinking something needs to be outlawed.
The government is not our babysitter. If people want to do this and safety gear is in check, there is no reason it should be against the law. Even if you think it's stupid or immoral.
Most dwarves do not mind being tossed as long as it will take the heads off a few orcs or goblins in the process. as long as the elves don't find out about it they are perfectly fine with such things.
on a side note.
as long as the people that are doing it are there on their own accord and they are having fun with it then i mean really.
Ever see i survived a japanese game show? Ever viewed any game shows from other countries? i put this right up there with that.
reminds me of the human fly thing at a amusement park
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Thanks to Epic Graphics the best around. Thanks to Nex3 for the avatar visit ye old sig and avatar forum
It sounds like a hell of a good time for all parties involved haha.
As long as the dwarves dont mind, and public order is kept, i dont see the problem.
Dwarf tossing should not be illegal because the law is discriminatory and rather patronizing.
ANY activity in which a little person "exploits" their smallness whether its "dwarf porn", jackass 3D, or "midget wrestling could easily have "dignity" arguments made against it, similar to this one and be subject to banning.
I am very leery of any paternalistic law that purports to provide "special protection" to a sub-population, but is clearly a limitation of their rights and freedoms.
Dwarf tossing should not be illegal because the law is discriminatory and rather patronizing.
ANY activity in which a little person "exploits" their smallness whether its "dwarf porn", jackass 3D, or "midget wrestling could easily have "dignity" arguments made against it, similar to this one and be subject to banning.
I am very leery of any paternalistic law that purports to provide "special protection" to a sub-population, but is clearly a limitation of their rights and freedoms.
QFT
If they want to do it, who cares. So they might get hurt. People might get hurt playing darts. People might get hurt doing practically anything. I could get carpal tunnel from typing this, doesn't mean it should be illegal.
If they're pressured into it that's different, but that doesn't mean the whole thing is bad enough to be banned.
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"Virtue, Jacques, is an excellent thing. Both good people and wicked people speak highly of it..."
Out of curiosity, would this even be up for debate if we were throwing average-sized people around?
They don't complain when average sized people do it. there is a thing at some amusement parks called the human fly and it has other names were people dress up in velcro suits and can jump on a trampoline or get launched and stuck to a velcro wall.
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Thanks to Epic Graphics the best around. Thanks to Nex3 for the avatar visit ye old sig and avatar forum
Out of curiosity, would this even be up for debate if we were throwing average-sized people around?
As mystery45, said no. One of the main contentions historically for showmen that engaged in certain activities such as freak shows were that the people in the freak shows to themselves were more or less actor and performers rather than being exploited as activists made them out to be. It's an interesting subject altogether within its historical framework for people for and against freak shows.
The dwarf toss debate is born out of that, the free agent actors/performers/tossed dwarves as capitalists versus exploitation of their stature. Little people in general historically have been known to be bards, jesters, and ect. dating all the way to the middle ages. So the argument goes that in order to be taken seriously, little people need to be doing "real work" rather than being exploited.
I chose dwarf tossing rather than freak shows because it's more contemporary than perhaps talking about more obscure historical figures like this guy:
If they choose to do it, it's not exploitation. If they're forced too because they have no other option, then something else is causing them to have no options, and it must be fixed. Pretty simple and easy, imo.
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"Virtue, Jacques, is an excellent thing. Both good people and wicked people speak highly of it..."
Well that was certainly an inspiring Wiki-Read. Tom was never objectified by Barnum and actually made quite a lot of money, even bailing out Barnum when he became financially troubled and they became business partners in the end.
Now certainly, the story of Barnum's circus act and the sport of Dwarf Tossing are two entirely different things. But so long as the smaller guys themselves don't objectify to being tossed, and it's not because they have no other options, then what's the problem? Despite their stature they are still consenting adults. It'd be more objectifying and patronizing to try and put them on a pedestal that they have no interest in being on simply because the government seems to "know better" than the little people.
I see a few potential issues:
1. Libertarian, two consenting adults entering into a contract with safety gear in check.
2. Safety, the safety of the little person is placed into jeopardy, ergo it must be made illegal to protect the safety and security of the little person.
3. Human dignity for little people, if some are used as entertainment icons they would be seen more as lesser human beings and marginalized.
So what is the morality of dwarf tossing and should it be legal as a form of entertainment sport?
Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.
Individualities may form communities, but it is institutions alone that can create a nation.
Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success.
Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.
Morally, dwarf-tossing is degrading and abhorrent. But so are sleazy strip joints, reality TV shows, and gay-pride parades. So I can't see a human dignity argument flying legally. A safety argument might have better grounding, but only if dwarf-tossing is more dangerous than, say, boxing. I have no idea whether or not this is the case.
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
The government is not our babysitter. If people want to do this and safety gear is in check, there is no reason it should be against the law. Even if you think it's stupid or immoral.
on a side note.
as long as the people that are doing it are there on their own accord and they are having fun with it then i mean really.
Ever see i survived a japanese game show? Ever viewed any game shows from other countries? i put this right up there with that.
reminds me of the human fly thing at a amusement park
Thanks to Epic Graphics the best around.
Thanks to Nex3 for the avatar visit ye old sig and avatar forum
As long as the dwarves dont mind, and public order is kept, i dont see the problem.
Not really trading atm
BRVamps
ANY activity in which a little person "exploits" their smallness whether its "dwarf porn", jackass 3D, or "midget wrestling could easily have "dignity" arguments made against it, similar to this one and be subject to banning.
I am very leery of any paternalistic law that purports to provide "special protection" to a sub-population, but is clearly a limitation of their rights and freedoms.
We could really use a couple of our vertically challenged friends in here for this one, huh?
Being of average height, I could almost percieve this debate from a little persons POV.
Hey, it's a job buddy.
QFT
If they want to do it, who cares. So they might get hurt. People might get hurt playing darts. People might get hurt doing practically anything. I could get carpal tunnel from typing this, doesn't mean it should be illegal.
If they're pressured into it that's different, but that doesn't mean the whole thing is bad enough to be banned.
They don't complain when average sized people do it. there is a thing at some amusement parks called the human fly and it has other names were people dress up in velcro suits and can jump on a trampoline or get launched and stuck to a velcro wall.
Thanks to Epic Graphics the best around.
Thanks to Nex3 for the avatar visit ye old sig and avatar forum
As mystery45, said no. One of the main contentions historically for showmen that engaged in certain activities such as freak shows were that the people in the freak shows to themselves were more or less actor and performers rather than being exploited as activists made them out to be. It's an interesting subject altogether within its historical framework for people for and against freak shows.
The dwarf toss debate is born out of that, the free agent actors/performers/tossed dwarves as capitalists versus exploitation of their stature. Little people in general historically have been known to be bards, jesters, and ect. dating all the way to the middle ages. So the argument goes that in order to be taken seriously, little people need to be doing "real work" rather than being exploited.
I chose dwarf tossing rather than freak shows because it's more contemporary than perhaps talking about more obscure historical figures like this guy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Tom_Thumb
Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.
Individualities may form communities, but it is institutions alone that can create a nation.
Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success.
Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.
Well that was certainly an inspiring Wiki-Read. Tom was never objectified by Barnum and actually made quite a lot of money, even bailing out Barnum when he became financially troubled and they became business partners in the end.
Now certainly, the story of Barnum's circus act and the sport of Dwarf Tossing are two entirely different things. But so long as the smaller guys themselves don't objectify to being tossed, and it's not because they have no other options, then what's the problem? Despite their stature they are still consenting adults. It'd be more objectifying and patronizing to try and put them on a pedestal that they have no interest in being on simply because the government seems to "know better" than the little people.
Spam/troll warning.