M&S cancels Midget Gems after campaigner brands term 'offensive' | Evening Standard

arks and Spencer has rebranded its popular Midget Gems sweets to avoid offending people with dwarfism.

Dr Erin Pritchard, a lecturer in disability studies at Liverpool Hope University, successfully campaigned for the name to be changed to Mini Gems.

However Dr Pritchard, who herself has achondroplasia, a condition which stunts growth, has since been mercilessly trolled online for being “woke”.

She told The Standard: “I think it is important to change the name as most people with dwarfism find the term offensive.

“There are responses on Twitter from average-sized people who seem to have no awareness about dwarfism. They don’t know that for years people with dwarfism have criticised the term midget.

“I am shocked by the backlash and abuse I have received for simply wanting a pack of sweets to not include an offensive term.

“The irony is that their abuse and the names that I’ve been called, including midget, just show why it is important to remove that term from use in general society.”

M&S is the first retailer to react to Dr Pritchard’s campaign and has changed the labelling on its packaging.

An M&S spokeswoman said: “We are committed to being an inclusive retailer – from how we support our colleagues, through to the products we offer and the way we market them to our 32 million customers.

“Following suggestions from our colleagues and the insights shared by Dr Erin Pritchard, we introduced new Mini Gem packaging last year, which has since been rolled out to all of our stores.”

In her recent book Disability Hate Speech, Dr Pritchard argues the word midget should be seen as a form of hate speech due to its origins in Victorian freak shows.

She wrote in Big Issue North: “Often referred to by people with dwarfism as the m-word, it is a term derived from the word midge, meaning gnat or sandfly.

“Its origin automatically dehumanises people like me. It was a term popularised during the Victorian freak show, where many disabled people, including people with dwarfism, were oppressed and exploited.”

Dr Pritchard acknowledged that some people may think the change is part of “cancel culture” but argued “when people scream the name at you in the street, it is only right that it is removed”.

The Little People of America explained in a statement why the word “midget” is today considered a derogatory slur.

“Midget was never coined as the official term to identify people with dwarfism, but was created as a label used to refer to people of short stature who were on public display for curiosity and sport,” the statement said.

“The dwarfism community has voiced that they prefer to be referred to as dwarfs, little people, people of short stature or having dwarfism, or simply, and most preferably, by their given name.”

Tesco has also said it will be reviewing the name of its product.

A spokesman for the supermarket said: “We are a diverse and inclusive retailer and we would not want any of our products to cause offence.

“We are grateful to Dr Pritchard for bringing this to our attention and we will be reviewing the name of this product.”