Is heightism a problem in America?

@PrivateIronTFU said:

I think being a total fucking pussy is a growing problem in America.

I agree.

I don't know what would be worse, being a real short guy or being a really tall (6'5+) woman.

@Orange said:

@Mesoian said:

No. Though I am tired of people walking up to me and asking me if I play basketball because I'm tall.

THIS,

Eh as a 6'5" guy is that really a problem?

My only issue is talking to girls and they always open with "oh wow you're tall!" or whatever and even now being 23 I have no real smooth transition or answer.. just let it slide and try to scramble for something else before it gets awkward.

No complaints though. Being asked if I play basketball isn't a big deal and hey I do anyways...

As a tall man, I've dated a few women who've expressed their distaste for dating men shorter then they are, and I've found they all seem to immensely enjoy being picked up and carried about from time to time (perhaps I've just dated really lazy women?).

I think this is balanced out by the increased amount of concussions us tall people suffer, to the point that I've learned to force myself into a bit of a crouch every time I enter a new building.

Thank god for cathedral ceilings!

When I was growing up I never thought I was short or in any way inferior. I had my first fight at six years or less 'attacked' by two bigger guys. I didn't know what I was doing, of course, but I just hit them one hand to each of their faces with vertical fists a whole bunch of times. They ran across the street crying to women and pointed (maybe one of the guys was their mom)... I'll never forget those three faces. The woman: what? that guy beat you both up? the boys: well, this changes my attitude! me: I never thought taller guys were in any way superior ... still in elementary school the school bully 'Even Steven' twice tried to fight me in one day... the first he tried to trip me, and I tripped him; later wrestled him to the ground and said, Had enuff? So I was a nice kid even then, and gave guys chances to give up. My point here : if you are 6' 3" and you go to a country where the guys are 6; 8" average, do you feel small? Of course not, not if all your life you felt OK with your height. So its the same way anywhere. Why let the 'society' impose their parameters on you? There are plenty of 'short' (to me, that's a non-word) guys even in this century who have been the toughest guys around. Some examples: Gurkas, whom the Taliban fears most of all, are in the 5;6" range, the SEALs and others are just pussycats in comparison. In my childhood, I remember a lot of my dad's friends were in the Gurka range (and gentle and tough), and there would be some real tall guys, and they didn't look anything special to me. The only second time I saw my laid back dad get mad at someone was some 6'3" guy and he was about to flatten him, everyone knew and said, "Hey, take it easy, uncle"... I was of course blessed to have a great childhood and was doubly blessed to know how to 'fight' but not be a bully; and in fact to stand up for people being bullied. Heightism is just like racism, its a learned prejudice. My best bud, bless his memory (he died a few years ago) was a six footer; his widow told me, He wanted to be like you. As for some women who prefer tall guys, so what? There's plenty of hot women who have had positive childhoods like mine, and they prefer non tall guys. Look at some smaller cool guys: Steve McQueen, Bruce Lee, Humphrey Bogart.... if they were taller guys they wouldn't be so cool, (of course that is heightism in reverse). I saw a photo with Jackie Stewart and Sean Connery. Well, who looks really cool in real life? Stewart of course, he really is an ace driver and expert shot, and I'm sure he had a childhood something like mine, with positive influences from outside and inside. So people, work on your hearts and minds. Have friends of all heights and ethnicities -- btw. if you're a Caucasian guy, for example, who likes Asian girls, do you have Asian guy buds? I'm Asian and my best bud above was a Caucasian. I grew up with guys who migrated from South Carolina (best friend in elementary), and 'united nations' of friends .... so to conclude, again: don't go with the crowd, there's people in the world who have wise hearts and minds; don't pay attention to the others.

I didn't realize discrimination for being tall or short was a significant problem anywhere.

I was a huge problem a few years ago, but we've advanced past that point as a society here in the future.

I stopped reading at this point because wow.

Also I'm 6"2 1/2 so I can't fairly comment on this, but I'm aware that heightism can be a problem in society. Here's an excerpt from an episode of QI from a few years ago:

"Tangent: Heightism does exist. Short people are paid less on average than tall people. It is comparable in magnitude to pay differences between race and gender. In a survey of Fortune 500 companies it was revealed that 90% of CEOs were above average height. 30% of those people are 6'2", which is the tallest 4% of the population. The public also tend to recognise short powerful people who have young, tall wives, such as Nicolas Sarkozy and Bernie Ecclestone."

Edit: Geez, totally didn't realise that this was an old thread that had been necro'd. Still, pretty rotten.

Height is a pretty big deal for being attractive to women (even extremely intelligent women); I don't think it really matters for practical purposes. Enough short people are in positions of power to somewhat negate the bias/invert it in the other direction.

I really can't stand that the mods allow thread necro's like this. What a stupid policy.

I have always been one of the tallest people I know. Thats it. no discrimination. It mostly suck that I cant drive most of the cool little sports cars.

...OK, yeah, I can see how a search for "heightism" would lead you to an old thread on GB.

Also I'm pretty much six feet exactly. Not freakishly tall, not unfortunately short.

heh, KaosAngel. now there's a blast from the past

I was way below average height for my age up until the last two years of high school. In middle school I even got teased for it by a kid with cerebral palsy, which was a little odd. I'm 5'9" now though, so half the time I feel tall and half the time I feel short.

As far as the Napoleon Complex thing goes, yes that is a result of social conditioning. Social conditioning is pretty much the source of complexes. No one is born with a complex as far as I know. A person who faces a lot of discrimination is probably going to have a chip on their shoulder because of it. A person who doesn't won't.

The bad old days of 2012, when every polling booth had a "You Must Be This Tall To Vote" stanchion on it.

You joke, but those stanchions kept me off a lot of rides when I was in late middle school-early high school.

Okay I want some answers.

As a tall person people constantly feel the need to ask me how tall I am. But I would never go up to a short person and ask them how short they are or ask a fat person how much they weigh. I find it very annoying and degrading that the first thing most people say to me is "wow how tall are you?"

@brodehouse said:

This is still funny two years later.

I never did watch those uglysims.

So it goes.

I'm not a real man because I'm not tall enough to be a real man. I can only ever dream of being an average man, because I'm of average height. Dagnabbit what in tarnation.

Indeed. I got both basketball and football when I was growing up. Thankfully, that seems to have died down now that I'm older.

Oddly enough, I was always told I should be a wrestler.

BOOM.

Headshot.

BOOM AGAIN.

I'm 6'5". Height issues, to me, mostly means logistical problems. Like, with blue jeans. But then, it would.

Privilege.

As a non-american I must say that I do notice a certain fixation on height and beeing big on many occasions. E.g. when there is a thread about which controller is best, every second post contains a remark like "I have huge hands". In general many people seem to want to tell the world how tall they are. Even in this thread posts often start with the assertion that the poster is tall. I doubt this would happen with a different topic like money. E.g. when we discuss if poor people have problems, not many would start their argument with "Well I have 200000k in my bank account, but..."

Just to make sure - this is not ment to be offensive in any way. I have nothing against anybody posting their height - Its just an observation I made when reading through US based forums.

There is a study about how brains look at silhouettes and what sorts of judgement we make based on just a glimpse. Our brains, our little monkey brains, determine a lot with just one look. We size up potential mates, potential rivals, potential threats, and potential boons (good things) with just a look. The 20/20 experiment preys upon that fact, they used silhouette because it is proven people will make snap judgements based on silhouette. Our brains developed the silhouette technique because we can tell when people are healthy or sick based on how they move, what their silhouette is like, and other indicators, but also to gauge from far away if a mate or rival is approaching.

Ever think a person is attractive from far away, but then change you mind when they get up close? That's your brain doing that based on silhouette. Do you know why humans see people or animals when we see a cartoon of people or animals? Because your brains are made to make these very quick scans of things, that's why we can be aroused by cartoon...well, if you have a normal brain you can be aroused. If you truly cannot be aroused by a cartoon, you might have a level of autism that we do not diagnose today because it is meaningless. About 20,000 years ago such people were might have a greater likelihood to glimpse a lion, not diagnose "That's a threat" fast enough - and they would be dead. Or, would see a silhouette in the distance and not realize is was a adversary not a potential mate until it was too late.

There are studies they show that human brain prefer unrealistic cartoon proportions to true proportions of real people. They reason is the cartoonish silhouette is easier to read. Our brains are assured of our judgment from a 'cartoonish bosom and hips" or "cartoonish wide shoulders with a tight waist" thus we like it more.

The only true "heightism" exists on airplanes. At 6'9", there is a reason why I've only flown somewhere twice in the last five years.

I'm 6'2" and that's still not tall enough. 6'4" would be great.

I think the biggest issue might be that most women want men taller than them.

I bet Batman has to deal with a lot of reverse heightism being 105 feet tall.

Americans come in all shapes and sizes man. With the exception of people who choose to live in communities with people that look like them and purposely isolate themselves Americans are used to seeing everyone.

Being short isn't a taboo, it's just that if you are under 5'5" and male women don't take you seriously unless you develop a mean case of shortman syndrome.

...just shave that unibrow, don't smell like body Oder, and take care of your teeth and you'll do okay in America.

Why.

Number 1 tall person problem..

Not being able to fit in a fucking bath tub.
I miss it so much.