As a 5′ 4″ male adult, and it’s something I am not proud of.
I have been discriminated upon all my life. I cannot date women, participate in certain sports everyone else takes for granted like basketball or football, or be viewed favorably in a professional environment unlike my taller counterparts. I am often compared to despotic anti-Christ dictators such as Napoleon (5′ 6″), Josef Stalin (5′ 5″), Nikita Khrushchev (5′ 3″) and Kim Jong Il (5′ 3″). Short people like me have been the justification for genocide, like they have done in Rwanda and in Bosnia.
This is the life I live, which is a life in which I cannot enjoy basic things that others take for granted. There is no way for me to fly planes, become a politician or head of any company, even though I hypothetically be the most-qualified individual out there. Being short is not like being fat or being skinny or even being weak-willed. There is nothing that I can do to make myself taller and become complicit with everyone else in society. You can say it’s like being born black, hispanic, or Asian, even though I am white.
But I suppose all the tall people out there wouldn’t know that, since you people don’t have to deal with the bullshit I have to deal with. THAT’s why I’m not religious, anymore; because if God intended for everyone to be happy, He would have made everyone tall.
Tags: dictator, discrimination, genocide, height, Heightism, racism
August 3, 2008 at 1:11 am |
It’s amazing
April 10, 2009 at 7:02 pm |
I am short or rather short than you.Okay people may say that it is okay for a woman to be short, but that is okay if it is only by a few inches.I am 19 years old and my height is 4′9 i already knew that i was never gonna be like my friends.I went through most of my schoolife being one of the shortest in my year.When we had school pics taken it was usually between me and another girl.I used to always say that the other girl was shorter than me.She soon surpassed me in height over the years anyway.My mum is 5′2 and my dad is 5′5 i do have a younger sister who is 15 and she is already 5′6 and my older brother is 22 and he is 5′4.We couldnt quite work it out has to why our younger sister was taller than all of us.I think she got her height from our grandmother who was 5′7.I used to hate sharing the bedroom with her has i noticed when my sister was about 8 years old she was only slightly shorter than me.She was forever saying sneekily to me that she will soon be taller than me.It was when she was 10 years old and she was 2 ins taller than me and i was 14.I was always praying that she didnt grow too much.I used to be teased by her friends when they knocked for her and they would always say are you sure you are older than Jessica.I would just say YES.In our bedroom Jessica had all her clothes high in the wardrobe and my clothes were put lower.Now mum and dad was rather helpful if i couldnt reach anything and Dustin was the same.If it was me and Jessica in the kitchen and i had to put things away.Well if it was too high i obviously couldnt reach it.Jessica would always say that i will have to climb on the worktop to put it up.In the end i just said well cant i do the washing up and drying and you just put the items away.I knew that meant that i was getting the raw deal and that Jessica was doing the easier work.For me it was easy has i just got my step stool and they gave me abit more height to reach the sink and taps.When i called Jessica to put the itmes away she would take her time and then say quietly to me stop getting on my high horse has i couldnt keep on telling her what to do now has she was taller than me.She seems to be all about making me look little to her especially when mum and dad arent around.In bed she calls me all names and tries to threaten me.She has a few names for me at the moment and the one that gets on my nerves is Munchkin.I rule the day when i can leave home and get on with my own life has i get very upset and if i tell on Jessica i get called a tittat.So i cant really win,as mum and dad dont believe me when i say something.I just get told to get along with her has i may need her some day.
I dont think so has she seems like too much hard work.
April 12, 2009 at 10:44 am |
I find being short a pain because of people tend to stare at you.I mean i aint no freak show act and i aint no midget either.I am just short for my age.I am now 17 years old and only 4′9 tall or not so tall.I come from a short family so i put it down to them.My mum is 4′7 and my dad is 4′10 i have a sister who is 19 and she is 5′0 and my 14 year old brother is 5′2.I would never have guessed that i would be shorter than my sister and brother.I suppose that i am lucky to be slightly taller than my mum hey.That is till she wears her high heels and then she is taller than me and dad.I have a feeling that my brother may grow some more then compared to us he will be like a giant.I think he is taller because of our granddad he was 5′6 so pretty tall compared to us.I thought that i was gonna be short has it seemed to take forever for me to grow.I was alwyas about 4/5 inches shorter than classmates.Some were awful to me especially girls they used to pinch my cheeks and say baby things to me.I even had boys lifting me up like a rag doll and swinging me.I had namecalling all the time like Littlelegs Littleun Shortstack Munchkin and the one that still stands is Lilliput.I just wish it would stop i mean i am 17 now.I am working and i have a name at work as well now.I suppose that it is just as well i only have one nickname i can handle that one has it is okay and all the people in the office have names so good.I am the shortest in the workoffice and there is a lovely woman there who is abit taller than me or so i thought.That was until i saw she was wearing high heels.I started chatting to her and asking her how tall she actually was and she mentioned she was only 4′9 like me.I laughed and said well lucky for you least you can hide your shortness unlike me.We have been on a few dates now and she is still always in heels.We had a couple of dances at a club and she decided to kick her shoes off has they were killing her.We laughed at eachother and said that’s better as we made eye contact.I couldnt believe that i was gonna be eye contact with a woman.We were bang on the same height and i said look we could be a couple of bookends.I aint too sure if she just wants to be friends though has she says that she would like a taller guy if it happened.I reassured her that if she changed her mind then i was still there for her.It was only after a couple of months where i actually saw her with a taller guy he was about 5′6 but they still looked perfect.I am still on the lookout but i dont mind tall or short.SHORT has if i can find a woman shorter than me hey.
April 12, 2009 at 11:03 am |
I know that we cant all pick and choose how we want to be.I am 46 and my height is 5′3 and my husband is 5′9.We have a son who is 22 now and he is 4′5 and a daughter who is 20 and she is 4′8.Apparently there is a chromosome that me and my husband carries that affects the childrens height.Now we didnt know this at the time or i dont think i would have bothered with children.I realised when Marty was 5 years old he was the height of 3 year old children.I took him to a g.p to be checked out and he did all sorts of tests it came back about me and my husbands genes.Marty was too young to understand so we were told that Marty would be very short for his age the doctor predicted a height of between 4′3 and 4′6.Kirsty was checked also when she was older and she came back with the same but her height prediction was different we were told between 4′6 and 4′8.Marty took it the worst while growing up has he noticed his friends growing while he was very slow,I remmeber him going to high school and he was so short compared to the other children.I think he took it bad because while he stopped growing aged 11 he was only 4′8 and after that he never grew another inch.Kirsty who is only 2 years younger caught him up pretty quick.On occassions you could take them has twins has they were the same height for a couple of years.Roundabout the age of 8 for Marty and 6 for Kirsty.Then when Kirsty was 10 she carried on growing till she topped out at 4′8 now.I understand that it was hard for Marty at school especially when his sister joined him at high school she was already taller than him.It didnt hold Marty back his height has he was still climbing with jis friends and trying to keep up with them.When they run he looked so small has he was running twice has hard to keep up with them.They did always help him though has they would give him hand ups when he couldnt reach things.Like climbing trees even now with the guys they go out to clubs and poor Marty has to take i.d everywhere with him.His friends are between 5′4 and 6′2.He says that he gets annoyed when walking past people and they are forever patting him on his head and saying whats it like down there.Especially when the guys get drunk he says that they do it harder than usual.He like to try to get a seat in the club has he is always being knocked over has the guys just keep walking straight instead of looking downwards to me.Their favourite saying to me is SORRY I DIDNT SEE YOU DOWN THERE…
Well that is it.
April 12, 2009 at 1:02 pm |
I will tell you what being a short person feels like.I live it every day has soon has i wake up i am the odd one out.Now you would think that i would be used to it by now but i am not.I am 22 years old and i am only 4′3 tall.Where i live there is no one like me, when i walk outside my house i feel like i am in a land of giants.I have young kids coming up near me and shouting out to their parents am i taller than her.They know who i am that i am an adult but i feel freakishly unhappy.Both my parents are average height and my 4 sisters and brothers are taller than me.My 2 younger brothers are both over 6′0 tall and my 2 sisters that are younger than me are 5′6 and 5′9.Whenever i have to speak with someone i generally try to get them to sit down so i feel happier.On a few occassions i have had to have the person lift me onto a stool which isnt very nice.I then have to ask to be put down when we are finished.I wouldnt mind if there were others that were little people like myself.I try to speak to people on the internet but there arent many groups for us.When i buy clothes they are aged about 6/7 they usually fit me.Shoes are a pain has i have to have really small ones they are size 10’s.I hated school has i so much shorter than everyone.I couldnt have a locker has most of them were too high for me so i had to carry my bag around all day with my books in it.I was always pushed has the taller boys didnt see me.I didnt bother running with my mates as i juts couldnt keep up.I found out afterwards that they did it because they wanted a laugh.When i did p.e it was a no go i just couldnt compete with them netball was a joke and hurdle and running.Some of the girls made fun out of me by having me stand close to the tallest girls and boys.On one of the boys i was only up to his waist he was way taller than me.Has i carried on through schoolife i was told to check out the new kids has maybe someone would turn up short like me.One year at school there was 3 kids that were short statured and one of the poor kids was really struggling with his height.I was asked to try to keep them under my wing and help them out.Now this was a first for me has i never ever saw anyone short like me.Only really young kids like 5 or 6 years old.These were actually school kids.There was 2 new kids and 1 in the year below me.The boy who was in the year below me was the one struggling with his lack of height.Now i was only 4′3 or so i thought i was until i hung around with this boy.We were both similar in height and i said to Joseph that he must be about 4′3 like me.He was very rude and said that Naw he wasnt he was actually 4′1.I said he couldnt be has i was always measured at 4′3.We went to the science department and they had a height chart i was measured at 4′1 and so was Joseph.Now that was a shock for me so i asked Joseph if he was going to be lucky and grow somemore and he just said hopefully.The other 2 girls were much better company has they were such a bright pair of kids.They were both about 12 years old and justicia was taller than me she was 4′3 and Washitika was 4′5.They were both growing rather slowly and werent expected to grow much taller.Justicia was lovely she would always say that i was always looking taller when i was further away from her until i got nearer.I found washitika was a very proud girl and she thought that she need to protect me has she was taller but we were all mainly in the same boat.After a few years when i left school i did see Joseph and he did managed a few extra inches he seemed about 4′5 now but still short.The other 2 girls i think moved away after school.
April 13, 2009 at 5:15 pm |
I think that if someone is short it is due to possibly their parents.I know so because my mum is 4′8 and my dad is 5′0.My older brother is 4′10 and i am 4′6.Yes i am an adult i am 22 years old.In our house we have alot of things that have been lowered for our heights.I know that our dad is 5′0 but he seems to still be able to not use his height for things.Me and my mum are no help.I suppose i should be greatful for what i have and try to use my height to my advantage.Which i try to do.
April 14, 2009 at 7:50 pm |
I am short for my age i have just turned 17 and i think i am 5′0 tall.I got my height from my mum she is also my height until she wears her high heels though.My dad is only 5′4 but i still put it down to my mum.Has my sister who is 19 she is 5′7 and my 12 year old brother is 5′2 already.I used to like being short until my older sister just took off when she was 10 she was my height and over the next 6 years she just grew.I always thought well if she can do it so can i.I had my last growth spurt when i 16 has before that i was 4′9 for ages then i managed to get the extra 3 inches.My brother has actually amazed me has i think because he is still young he lookds like he also has somemore growing to do.Joseph keeps telling me that he hopes to be like Breda and grow like her has he wants to be the tallest in the family.At the moment i am happy has i can managed Joseph being a couple of inches taller than me.Breda doesnt have any shame has when we all go out together she decides to wear her highest shoes and the pair she loves are these 5 inch things.When she wears them dont get me wrong she walks okay in them but i always try to stand out of her way has i dont like to look really short beside her.My mum doesnt mind as she wears heels and that brings her up abit.Usually she is the same height has dad when we go out.I generally only talk to Breda when we are sitting has i hate it when she wants to talk to me and she is always looking down at me.That is the only thing with being short if a taller person notices me they tend to slide up near me and hover this makes me abit nervous.I had a young girls she was 12 years old and in Josephs class she always says something about my height she is now taller than me and she is forever saying look who is taller now and it is okay for a girl to be short but not a boy.
April 17, 2009 at 7:50 pm |
I understand it would be boring if everyone is the same.I mean there has to be short people tall people thin people fat people.
I suppose being short is okay i find it abit of a pain most of the time.Worst of all being the shortest in my family doesnt help.I put the blame on being the youngest and my 2 older sister and 2 older brothers took all the height gene.Especially when we have heights like this.
Jimmy——————-25yrs old and 6′0
Karla——————–23yrs old and 5′9
Liam———————22yrs old and 5′8
Valance—————–21 yrs old and 5′6
Me———————–18yrs old and 4′11.
I couldnt even make it to 5′0 i think i wouldnt have minded as much.
Our mum is 5′7 and our dad is 6′2.
I know there are people my height but i just cant always see them.Has all my friends are pretty tall.The tallest is Chrissie she is 5′10 and she cant stand being that tall.There are a couple of my friends that are 5′2 and 5′4 we also have a new friend who finds it funny to keep on mentioning my lack of height.I mean she is only 5′0 tall herself and she wears these very high heels and i am rather short then compared to her.She says all the time that i make her feel taller when i am around her.If one of the girls hears her they point out that there isnt much difference when we are barefooted.
July 11, 2009 at 4:27 pm |
I think the worse thing in the world is being shorter than your siblings.I am 25 years old and being a fully grown adult i am only 5′0 tall.I have a sister who is 24 and she is 5′8 lastly is my brother who is 22 and he is 5′5.It seems that me and my brother have gotten dad’s height as he is 5′3 whereas our mum is 5′6.I thought being the oldest i would be taller but this wasnt to be the case.I was at a christening with all the family aunts and uncles and cousins the lot and i was 16 at the time.I was shorter than my sister who was younger and my brother was coming up fast.I was always mistook for being the youngest in the family after that.The worse were my cousins they found it amusing watching my siblings outgrow me.I found it very frustrating especially when we were all at school together.I used to have their friends asking how old i was and was i really older than them.My sister found it funny when i was called a munchkin she never stood up to her mates only saying that i am old enough to do so myself.I can remember her always wanting to wash up with me and if i couldnt wash up i had to put things away.Now she knew that i couldnt reach the cupboards and she would always make me get a stool to reach them or climb on the worktops.When i asked her why she treated me this way.Her answer was that she would have loved her older brother to be taller than what i was.She said she took alot of stick at school with kids calling me a dwarf to her.Now she is okay about the situation and everything is good.
July 11, 2009 at 4:47 pm |
My problem with being short is having taller children than yourself.I reached a height of 4′8 and abit.I am married to a guy who is 5′5 yep i know he isnt a giant.Compared to me he was about 9 inches taller.I know where i got my height from and that was my grandmother who was also 4′8.My mum is 4′9 so slightly taller than us.We have a son who is 16 and he is already 5′7 i think he may have a little more growth.Then comes our daughter who is 14 and she is 5′5.Then comes another son who is 12 and he is 4′10 and the shortest out of the boys in his year.Lastly comes Courtney she is 9 and she seems to taken the short height gene.At the gp she was measured at only 4′1 and she is in year 4 and one of the oldest in class.Dont get me know she is looked after really well by the other classmates.They try to help her all the time when she cant reach things.The gp says that she is way below her height for her age but she seems to take after me in that department.He did some tests to see her bone structure and other tests.We went back to see him and we were told that her height will be between 4′4 and 4′7 if she was luckey with the latter.I went to her sports day a few times now and she cant even compete with the kids in her class has they are much taller and stronger than her.So she takes part in the younger kids in the years below.Now granted that she is on a par with some kids that are about 5/6 year old.She seems to do quite well and the younger kids understand the problem.I do feel pretty bad that she is to be abit shorter than us all but she does quite well day to day.We have done things for her like lowering tham and she had a couple of stools to her her.I remember dropping her off to school one day and a woman said to some parents HAAA look at that girl i pointed out that she was my daughter.The woman was rather rude and said to me well now we know where she gets her height from shortie.I was takenaback by what the woman said to me and then i used to didge the woman after that.
Courtney now understands that she wont be has tall has her friends and that she is different to them.I said that it would have been nice if there was someone else like her.She hasnt got long till going to high school and no doubt she will still be shorter than everyone.I have heard that after the summer there could be possibly another child like Courney who is suffering with a growth problem.He will be in the same year as Courtney and hopefully they will gel and help eachother.I have gave up telling the older children to do this and that has i find it hard with the eye contact business with them.