Heightism

Post Reply New Topic

Looks pretty normal.

I can attest to that. I'm about 6' 7" and it has some serious disadvantages. I hate being in crowds because I always stick out. Some people seem hesitant to approach me and I think it plays a part, other people when they meet me frequently ask me if I'm a basketball player, and what sucks is, I can't buck the stereotype because I am one. Things aren't built to accomodate the really plus-sized, I really have to squeeze to fit in a car, I have to be careful not to pee on the top of the urinal, my dorm bed is too small, the chairs in the classrooms are painfully small if they have a desk on top, and just try shopping for size 17 shoes. If I grow almost anymore I'll have to duck through many doors. I have a thorough distrust of martial arts because in my brief experience with it the sifu would always pick on me because I was the big guy.

I think this can definitely be a problem, either "too tall" or "too short," the discrimination exists. But that doesn't mean you can't be happy.

For one thing, where you live has a huge impact on this, at least it has in my life. Where I grew up, I could look around the grocery store and rarely see anyone, male or female, taller than me. It was pretty uncomfortable at times, and I am "only" 5'9". When I transferred colleges across the state, suddenly I was "normal" height for a girl, with lots of girls and guys taller than me, and I no longer felt so self-conscious. This made a HUGE difference.

Secondly, I had a lot of crushes on short guys growing up (and I felt uncomfortable being too tall, and often wondered if this was why they weren't interested in me). Now, my husband is the same height as me, and he always says he is shorter or not tall enough but honestly it does not bother me, and must not have bothered him that much either, because there's so much else we love about each other it ceased to be an issue.

Most of the guys I have been attracted to in my life were significantly shorter than me and other guys around them (5'3', 5'4). Why? I don't know, it's not that I am attracted to the idea of short guys, in fact I admit that most women have on their list of perfect guys someone taller than them (although I didn't, since my first crush was on a guy much shorter than me). I just ended up liking them. The best thing you can do personality wise is be positive about your height and have a good sense of humor about it, and any girl worth having will cease being bothered about it or about what her friends say. Forget the platform shoes... they have to come off sometime and you want to show confidence (even assumed) rather than trying to cover up your height.

Oh, I'll show confidence when they come off, but there's no reason to have my life inconvenienced the rest of the time. It's more a practical matter than anything else. The shoes just make my life easier, just like GoatOnFire's life would be made easier if he were 6'2" instead of 6'7". I can now reach many things I couldn't before, like things on high shelves. It's just a positive overall difference, because, as GoatOnFire said, society is built around the idea that most people fit within a certain height-range. He's further out of that range than I am, but I still experienced difficulties on a daily basis from being short.

It's funny that you mentioned how much easier it would be if I was 6' 2". I was 6' 2" for a while and thought I was done growing, and back then I secretly thought it would be cool if I got a little bit taller. I guess I brought it on myself. I got my wish. Be careful what you wish for.

I'm 6'4. I wish I was maybe 6'. I seriously want to buy a smaller rwd car but they tend to be cramped.

Was your growth rate like the tallest man in the world's? That Chinese guy, Bao Xishun, who's 7' 9", grew at a normal rate -- except he didn't stop! Doctors don't know why. Maybe a flaw in the genes that time when to stop growing?

Here's Bao with the shortest man in the world:





But, of course, at 8' 11.1", Robert Wadlow could call Bao "shorty."

My growth rate wasn't like that. I got it in bursts. Genetically I don't know where it came from because my father is 5' 9" and my mother is 5' 3". I was pretty small for my age for a while. I didn't break 5 feet tall until I was 14, so I actually know what it's like on the other side. Then all of a sudden I grew 12 inches in one year. After being 5 feet tall at 14, I was suddenly 6 feet at 15. It stopped at 6' 2" while I was still 15, and I stayed 6' 2" for about 2 years. During the summer break between my junior and senior year I shot up to 6' 5". I put on another couple of inches during the summer break between high school and college. I didn't get one between freshman and sophomore year, I hope it's finished.

I never imagined that normally tall people would suffer from heightism too ...well i guess I was wrong.

My nephews are 6'3" and 6'2", and they're only 17 and 16 years old. Size 15 shoes, etc. They're thin though, but that should balance out in their twenties, I imagine. They're younger sister, thankfully, didn't inherit that height. Tall women seem to have as much trouble dating as short men do -- and for precisely the same reason, that the man "should" be taller.

I'm stuck at a lowly 5'6 but that makes me one of the tallest in my family!
I've noticed that no matter what height you are clothes never seem to fit perfectly. I have trouble buying trousers because most shops only seem to stock stuff for tall thin guys or short fat ones, and i'm short and thin!
Being short has it's advantages. I don't get noticed in a lot of places, I don't bang my head where others do, t-shirts and jumpers fit nicely (why can't they make trousers like that!), and I have less weight to carry around with me which is very useful for a lot of the sports I do.
The best thing about being short is when i used to stun people when i played basketball at school and i was able to dunk on a regulation height basket, something which some of the 6 footers at school couldn't do. Unfortunately my recent ankle break took a lot of my spring away, but it's coming back.

Anyway, big deal what other people think of your height. Height is just another category where people differ and differences are what insecure people try and belittle in others to make them feel superior. Live and let live, and screw what other people think if it's negative.

If a person is significantly taller or shorter than average, relationships are probably the least of that person's concerns. Life and death are more pressing if you have a condition resulting in either very small or very large stature. The Guinness Book of World Records has listed people under two feet tall and nearly nine feet tall. These people have had very short lifespans.

I used to have a sorta "fetish" for unusually short guys...I am 5'2" and guys who were close to my height sorta really stood out to me....(this has gotten me in trouble even )

I say "used to" because Flakey is sturdy 5'11"...but there is something to be said about the shorties..especially if they are musicians.

Anywhoo....it would be nice if i were taller, because then i would at least be somewhat height/weight proportionate...(i have been gaining alot of weight lately )

I've never had a problem sitting in the smaller Toyotas and I'm only an inch shorter. You can always gain some headroom by fitting Bride or Recaros with the side mount rails.

I noticed a distinction between male height and its ability to attract the opposite sex based solely on physical attraction in high school. A "strong" looking build on a tall individual also attracted more attention compared to the smaller framed tall people.

I'm sure there's some innate survival/social ideal mate/partner thing going on in people's minds.

Thats why I am goingg to the Gym and stuffing my face ful of amino acids and protenes. I they don't cure me of depression or make me more NT, they will give me musles.