Why is this still ok?

Today as I was reading Facebook, I came across a picture that bothered me. Maybe it was my hormones raging, maybe it was my oversensitivity, maybe I'm still coming to terms with having a daughter with dwarfism, I don't know. I do know that a year ago, I might have chuckled and not given it a second thought - but today, I thought of my sweet Maddy and instead it made me cry. 

The picture was innocent enough, a teenage boy dressed up as an elf - wearing the typical elf hat, kneeling on the ground so that his knees could be in the shoes, arms not in the sleeves of his jacket - which gave him a pretty accurate "proportion" for the dwarf elf he was trying to represent. So much so that I did a double take, before realising that it was just an average height kid having some fun. 

I know that most people in our society see nothing wrong with the above picture. It's just a bit of Christmas fun. But as the parent of a child with dwarfism, I wonder - how will this society affect my daughter as she grows up? Why is it that it is still ok to stereotype dwarfs and to make fun of them? 

I previously wrote about my thoughts about Hollywood's representation of dwarfism -  and people were quick to tell me that there are now a small number of short statured people who have been cast in non-stereotypical roles, however this still appears to be the exception, not the norm. Most dwarfs in movies these days are still playing the roles of leprechauns, oompa loompas, angry dwarfs who kick people in the shins or some kind of magician's apprentice. They rarely (but still occasionally) play "a normal person who happens to be short statured".

If someone dressed up and acted as though they were affected by a mental disability for Halloween, people would be horrified. If I took out my newborn and had him on fake oxygen just to "dress up", that would not be accepted. Society has made it very clear that it is NOT ok to mock disabilities and special needs.

Except for dwarfs? 

Disclaimer: I know that in posting this, there is a chance that someone who knows the photo I am talking about will read it and recognise what I'm talking about. I know that the picture was taken innocently and was not meant to mock anyone. I am not attacking the photo, I'm just musing about how our society portrays dwarfism - and how people including myself never think about it until they are personally affected by it. I am not personally offended by the picture and mean no offense in anything that I've written. My heart just aches for my daughter who lives in a society where people will most likely laugh at her differences.