#kitty rantz

Also, I did not make this post to attack others, I also do not to see anyone harassing others because of this post/harassing others in my name. I simply made this post to educate others about ableist stereotypes. 

Now, back to what I previously said, how do people who portray Zim like this actually portray him, in their interpretation, basically being an adult man that has dwarfism in a ableist manner?

Well, firstly, they actually tend to enforce ableist stereotypes surrounding people with dwarfism. Now, you may be asking yourself, "Kitty, what kind of stereotypes?" Well, there is two I often see enforced: the stereotypes of "Adults with dwarfism are basically children" and "Adults with dwarfism are angry gremlin people", I don't like using these terms most of the time, because I find people tend to use them incorrectly or carelessly, but I feel in this situation I can: along with infantilizing him due to his disability despite the fact that he is a grown man in these fanworks. Or straight up fetishizing him due to his height, making it all about how tiny and small he is.

Now, what I mean by how people enforce the "Adults with dwarfism are basically children" stereotype onto Zim in these fanworks? What I mean by this, is they often portray him like he is a child, not a grown man that basically has dwarfism. They do not portray him and Dib as equals to each other, they often portray Zim as "Annoying angry gremlin" and Dib an annoyed person or that does not respect his boundaries (I.E: picking him without consent, treating him as lesser). Among other things. They do not portray them in a way where you would know "oh, this is just two adult guys and one of them just happens to be a little person." No, by the way people portray them, you would think that Zim is just some annoying random kid and not also a grown person like Dib.

I'm not saying adults can't be immature, hell I would know. My mother is quite literally a emotionally immature adult. But I find it definitely odd how they always make him act like this while also being an adult man that basically has dwarfism in their fanworks. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Another thing is that they don't draw him like he's a person with dwarfism, they simply make him look like a child, and also yes: There is a difference between the way a adult with dwarfism looks and the way a child looks. There is also many different types of dwarfism as well.

The stereotype of people with dwarfism, being angry gremlins is a harmful stereotype. Is Zim an irritable person and could that trait continue into adulthood? Yes! However, making your character who, in your fan-work is essentially a person with dwarfism the fact their an angry gremlin their whole personality is just… gross and borderline dehumanizing. Are there adults with dwarfism that have anger issues? Yes, absolutely! Because people with dwarfism are not a monolith. Just like any other group. But like I said, making your character who essentially has dwarfism, the fact their an angry person their entire personality when that is a ableist stereotype is harmful.

Now, onto the fetishization and infantilization. Often times, they make it all about Zim's height. How small and tiny he is. They always talk about how much more taller and grown Dib is. For example, on two separate occasions I have seen people draw Dib carrying Zim around in a baby carrier. That is straight up infantalization. Because they're actually treating him like he is a child despite the he is supposed a grown man in their fan-works.

That is nasty. These people could have drawn Zim using some kind of mobility aid that people with dwarfism actually use (I.E: a wheelchair). But no, they went that route. The ableist one. The way people often portray this headcanon (EMPHASIS ON HEADCANON BY THE WAY. I will get into why that's not canon in a moment). within fan-works often reads as "fetish material poorly-disguised as disability representation" than "representation of a under-represented group of people." I would not be as upset if these people were honest that it was fetish content / a height fetish , but like I said: they don't, they poorly disguise it as something else.

One more thing: I don't like how people who have this headcanon often use it as a tool of harassment towards others who don't personally share the headcanon. Which, other than the ableist stereotypes, is another reason I am not personally fond of this headcanon. I've seen people who draw their adult Zim tall, or around the same height as Dib get harassed and attacked for doing so, and receive accusations of being ableist when they usually aren't doing it for ableist reasons.

My friend Oli made this point first, so full credit to them! : People often cite Dib's Wonderful Life of Life of Doom as "proof" that Zim, as an adult would basically be a person with dwarfism. However, people fail to remember or even ignore that Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom was not actually Dib in the future. Rather, it was a simulation of what he thought his future would be like / what he thought he would be like in adulthood. Therefore, it is not the most credible source.

In conclusion, while I do not think the headcanon of Zim as an adult basically being a little person/a person with dwarfism is an inherently bad or ableist headcanon and I do think if the right person is doing it, it can be done in a respectful manner. However the way the vast majority of the ZaDr fandom often portrays it is ableist. Am i saying that everyone who has this specific interpretation portrays it in a manner that is ableist? No! However, do I still see ableist depictions of it more often then not? Yes.

If anyone who has this specific headcanon is reading this and realizes that they portray it is ableist, please do not beat yourself up. Sometimes people make mistakes and as long as you recognize, learn from and apologize for your past mistakes.

if you view Zim as an adult/believe he is one do not follow me. I don’t want you anywhere near me. I’m fucking sick of people using a deleted tweet and a statement that contradicts literally any other statements about Zim’s age (I.e: show bible, which mind you was also written by Jhonen, that clipping from Disney adventures magazine where Zim was referred to as a kid alien, and in this interview from 2015 Jhonen also calls Zim a kid). to justify having such a nonsensical, thoughtless and borderline predatory interpretation of Zim’s character. It’s not “funny”. I’m fucking sick of people saying that to justify having this interpretation as well. No, a adult man disguising himself as a child and having a creepy, like I previously stated, BORDERLINE PREDATORY dynamic with a middle school aged boy is fucking disgusting.

Also stop fucking spreading the “Zim is 160/16” bullshit. That originated from a fucking HEADCANON blog in the early 2010s and for some reason people still claim that Jhonen said that when he never fucking did. I’m so fucking sick of this shit.

Also, before anyone is like “Oh but Kitty why not be respectful towards other peoples interpretations :(“ Maybe because it’s a fucking nonsensical, thoughtless, ill-informed and borderline predatory one. Also, these are the same people who have told me and my friends to kill ourselves over a fucking ship I think I have a right to be a dickwad actually.