When I read about dwarf bullfighting in Spain, I had the same visceral reaction as when I heard about dwarf tossing in Australia. I never imagined either “sport” as acceptable entertainment or that dwarfs would be willing participants. I’m pleased that comic dwarf bullfighting didn’t come to my attention until after Spain outlawed “shows or recreational activities in which people with disabilities are used to provoke mockery or ridicule from the public.”
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The parallels between dwarf bullfighting and dwarf tossing are striking. In both cases dwarfs were seen as objects of ridicule. Dwarfs in Spain dressed as firefighters or clowns to chase bulls at public spectacles designed to be humorous. Dwarfs in Australia, America, and the United Kingdom window-dressed with a useless padded helmet and were tossed like a human frisbee to the roar of a jeering crowd.
In March 1985, I was talking about dwarf tossing when I wrote: “Little people are tired of being ridiculed and the butt of people’s jokes, and object to being treated as a plaything of society.” In April 2023, Firstpost Explainers expressed a similar sentiment about dwarf bullfighting. “People with dwarfism were subjected to mockery in public squares in our country, passing down the idea that it is OK to laugh at difference, to so many girls and boys who go with adults to see these shameful performances.”
According to news reports, Spain’s Royal Board on Disabilities pushed for the ban on dwarf bullfighting. Jesús Martín Blanco, a person with dwarfism and director general of the board, denounced the fact that children were the target audience of people with dwarfism presented as buffoons. “If the children are going to laugh at a person in a bullring, they will surely laugh at me when they come out.”
Support for the ban also came from the Alpe Achondroplasia Foundation representing those with the most common type of dwarfism. The parent of a 29-year-old dwarf with Achondroplasia is reported as trying to get these shows banned since her son was born. She tells of people pointing out her son on the street and erroneously describing him as the bullfighter fireman. The legal advisor to the foundation warned against building an unhealthy society by teaching children that it’s a laugh to make fun of those who are different.
As with dwarf tossing, vehement opposition to the bullfighting ban came from the dwarfs involved in the spectacles. Tossees and bullfighters both argued against removing their livelihood. Prior to the legislative vote, dwarf bullfighters staged a protest in front of parliament in Madrid, Spain pleading “Everyone should be able to work at what they want.”
In both cases, the onus was put on the legislature to decide if the participants right to work in freak-show style entertainment outweighed the rights of nonparticipants to be viewed as viable candidates in respectable occupations without being branded by the indelible and degrading images of bullfighting and dwarf tossing. Thankfully, legislatures in Spain, Florida, and New York came down on the side of human decency and outlawed these morally bankrupt practices.
Image by Car Loss Voniya from Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/trimmers-torero-bullfighters-sales-2314774/
You may also want to read:
- “Spain has banned ‘dwarf bullfighting:’ What is this decades-long practice?” (includes Reuters image of two costumed dwarfs in comic bullfighting event.) Firstpost Explainers. April 28, 2023. https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/spain-has-banned-dwarf-bullfighting-what-is-this-decades-long-practice-12520582.html
- Angela Muir Van Etten. “ALWAYS AN ADVOCATE: Champions of Change for People with Dwarfism and Disabilities,” Part II, The Rise and Fall of Dwarf Tossing. September 2021. https://angelamuirvanetten.com/always-an-advocate/
- “Florida Bans Dwarf Tossing in Bars.” Angela Muir Van Etten blog post. June 27, 2022. https://angelamuirvanetten.com/florida-bans-dwarf-tossing-in-bars/.
- “Dwarf Tossing Throwback.” Angela Muir Van Etten blog post. March 8, 2021. https://angelamuirvanetten.com/dwarf-tossing-throwback/.