AN INFLUENCER with dwarfism has urged people to think twice about the way they speak to “little people”.
Lucy Sleight has made a name for herself as someone to watch in the social media world, and has a whopping 20.7 million likes on her TikTok page.
She uses her platform to share fashion and beauty advice, but recently shared a video in which she opened up about some of the things she finds most difficult about being somebody with dwarfism.
One thing she can’t stand is when people “full on get on their knees” to talk to her, as she said it gives her “second hand embarrassment” for what they look like.
Instead, she urged them to sit down while she stands up, so that they’re at similar heights.
And don’t even think about patting her on the head – or using her as an armrest.
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“Like girl please!” she sighed in the TikTok, which she captioned “things I find patronising as a little person”.
“This hasn’t actually happened to me many times thank God.
“Because if somebody did I’d literally be like excuse me. Like who do you think I am?
“I am not an object!”
She can’t stand it when people call her “cute”, which happens a lot – especially when she’s out with her boyfriend, who also has dwarfism.
“I want to be gorgeous. I want to be beautiful,” she said.
“I want to be amazing. I want to be incredible.
“And I feel like me personally. I associate the word cute with like small things or younger things.
“Like I’d call my nephew cute.
“I’m 26. I don’t want to be cute!”
Lucy also took aim at people who call her “inspirational” just because she’s a dwarf, as she said she wants to be considered an inspiration to others because of the things she does with her platform – not just because of her condition.
And she can’t stand it when people “overcompensate” in the way they talk to her, and end up talking to her like she’s “three years old”.
“I just want to reiterate like I know all those things I’ve mentioned are like are harmless,” she concluded the video, which has had over 357,000 views on the social media site.
“People are being nice, but it’s just sometimes the way things come across.”
The comments section was immediately filled with people having their say on Lucy’s advice, as one wrote: “I hate it when people infantalise people with dwarfism or visible disabilities.
“All of these comments must be so infuriating and annoying.”
“What is wrong with people?” another sighed.
“I don’t see you as anything different.
“You’re a beautiful human with an amazing personality!”
“As a wheelchair user and someone with cerebral palsy, I relate to all of these! Drives me mad,” a third admitted.