On a reddit post about 6'5 J.J. Watt standing next to 7'6 Yao Ming: "Watt looks like a short guy that works out to compensate for having little man syndrome." Almost 150 upvotes.
Of course, the solution to this issue is always to tell short men to not lift too much. As another commenter says, "get really jacked but lean." Even if you can build more muscle and strength, make sure to hold back your progress, simply because others can't be arsed to not be assholes while you mind your own business. Short men are expected to have a change in behavior and self-control, but not those who are prejudiced and think in stereotypes.
Screw that. I recommend short men do whatever they want. Fact of the matter is that people get angry whenever they see any short male display strength or masculinity. It's the same reason they hate short police officers, politicians, etc. There's a reason why we say "a man/woman of your stature" whenever someone is important. Height is linked with power, the same way muscles are correlated with physical strength. Society simply doesn't believe a short man is allowed to be strong, but people will rationalize it in a way to make it seem like the issue is on short men's side.
Also, even if some short guy does lift to "compensate," it's interesting how short men are singled out about this way more often. For example, a woman who takes a gender-specific self-defense class is technically "compensating" for how females are naturally weaker than males. Or how about tall guys who start lifting due to being naturally scrawny and lanky? But when was the last time you've seen such vitriol towards these groups?
New related article: On "Overcompensating" Short Men
