This is why I laugh when society constantly talks about women's body image issues. How often are women called out for doing this to short men? I just want less double standards and hypocrisy is all.
P.S. When girls say "little guy," I guarantee they'd still reject a big short man for a smaller tall one.
Can you imagine a 4'11 man becoming President or Prime Minister? Maybe in some other country, but in the US or Canada, I wouldn't count on it even if he were the best man for the job.
Social skills aside, most humans also only care about height rather than overall size, so long as a tall guy isn't anorexic. Even if a 6'0 tall guy has thinner wrists, narrow shoulders, a smaller skull, etc. he'd still be eligible for sperm banks, while some short man built like a tank is automatically disqualified. This would be like if rhinos, hippos, and elephants feared giraffes because the giraffes are taller.
When it comes to height preferences, in or outside of mating, leave it to humans to break the 80/20 rule and turn it into something like 99/01.
Another popular website, The Washington Post, published an article about the height wage gap, again using lame height puns and worst of all, the following quote:
"He also said it will be important to look at internally-driven issues, such as low self-esteem and depression."
"It's very strange; when other "groups" claim to experience lower success rates, the media - and others - ALWAYS seem to point to discrimination as the cause. When it's short-stature we're talking about, then "it's important to look at internally-driven issues, such as low self-esteem and depression".
This Washington Post article is extra hilarious, since it brings the good ol' Napoleon Complex into the equation. What's the complex for women or minorities when they try to overcome disadvantages? Never mind how this study says short man complex/syndrome is flat out bullshit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6501633.stm
Intimidation is often used as a reason (and excuse) for heightism. Aside from how most people would fear a small tall man over a bigger short one, aren't Africans perceived as more imposing? Yet I don't see that helping out black people much statistically/socially.
For example, my mother is racist against blacks, saying she's afraid just being around them. When it comes to height, she fawns over tall stature like everyone else, yet is also afraid of tall men. So why doesn't she prefer black men over Asians or whites? She's not the only one I've noticed with these blind double standards.
I just find it funny how scariness is only good when some people want it to be. For example, muscular tall men are "alpha" and attractive, but muscular short men are ugly and compensating. Strong is strong. Scary is scary. What difference does height make?
It's disturbing how this is framed like some eugenics issue ("can blame DNA"). Not only do these articles often take a flippant tone, with lame height puns like "Short men do tend to get the, well, short end of the stick," but they always conveniently leave out the following:
"We show that height has a significant effect for the occupational sorting of employed workers but not for the self-employed. We interpret this result as evidence of employer discrimination in favor of taller workers." - Source
I just find it funny how most sites post the studies that don't look into the discrimination angle. As more mainstream sites like CNN and The Guardian post these articles (without focusing on the root cause), they will only make matters worse. It will further perpetuate this cycle, because people will think tall men are inherently superior.
Also notice how the CNN article ends it:
"Could the earnings differences be because of depression or a lack of
confidence among shorter or heavier people, as some earlier studies have
theorized?"
Call it like it is. This is due to discrimination, because again, self-employed short men do as well as tall ones. Replace this topic with race or something, and they wouldn't dare question whether the victim's "confidence" is to blame.
We all know a confident short man has a Napoleon Complex anyway. If these studies instead found out short men earn more on average, people would attribute it to some chip on short men's shoulders, a need to "compensate" or prove something.
I always imagine these assholes rubbing one out as they giddily type these articles, like it confirms their preconceived notions that taller men are better. Too bad this one line pretty much proves the results are due to prejudice:
"Short women are in luck. There was no real household income difference between short and tall women."
The author tries to portray this as a good thing, but unless she wants to claim the average 5'0 woman is intrinsically more capable than a 5'5 man, there's no reason why this should be about short men rather than short people in general. There's a reason why Dunkin' Donuts in the Philippines requires at least 5'4 men but only 5'2 women. Women are shorter on average, but what's the technical difference? If anything, a 5'2 man is still more physically able on average than a 5'2 woman, not that this should even matter in most mundane jobs.
There's no need to spin this into some convoluted shit about "depression" or "confidence." There's a reason why those traits would even be there in the first place, and personally, I can't "blame DNA."
Here's the best comment from where I found this. He sums up the stupidity of heightism and humanity:
Love
how people are so inherently fucking retarded on a mass scale to
believe that "short man syndrome/Napoleon complex" is some nebulous
inherent genetic predisposition. How about treating smaller boys/teens
like shit consistently as they mature, shaming them about their bodies
and when they actually start having lower self esteem about it tell them
that it must be their shit personalities, lack of hobbies, or worst of
all fucking confidence!(of course hes not going to have confidence you
crush them every time they even think of developing some). That ladies
and gentlemen is what turns a perfectly normal kid/teen/man into the
stereotypical angry, bitter short man that society loves to demonize.
You could take any subset of people with a certain physical attribute
and crush them throughout their developmental years and you will have
the same damn result.
If we dare try to improve our bodies to make up for our perceived "weakness" we are shamed for it
If we try to be just as competitive as other men we are "pushy" and "Napoleons".
People WANT us to be the perfect short man: meek, feeble, cowardly
little asexual clowns.
Then we have the fuckstick short guys who defend this type of thinking
and play the silly little clown or bring up stories about non existent
little 5'2 friends who are these magical bad asses just to try to
torpedo any points you make. There really is no fucking winning ever.
On this very blog, I've had people telling me to tone it down, or else I'm perpetuating heightist stereotypes. What these idiots don't realize, is that when we don't address heightism, short men are guilty until proven innocent. We could all be good little boys, but these stereotypes will still exist. They will rear their ugly heads the moment a short man does anything "dominant" like a tall guy does, benign things like lifting weights, gunning for a leadership position, etc.
I especially love when this shit happens in generic and popular forums like AskReddit. This isn't some specific hatred one has to dig up, like in the now defunct fatpeoplehate sub.
While I'm not a U.S. citizen, I still like to laugh at how their politics have devolved into a "who's bigger" competition. Truly amazing how these are their candidates:
On a Canadian note, I wonder if Trudeau would've been elected had he been 5'2 instead of 6'2. Personally, Trudeau reminds me of Spenny from Kenny vs. Spenny, but I'm sure his height makes him seem like an "alpha male leader" for some. Either way, still doesn't stop the U.S. from randomly mentioning his height. If you want to see a real height complex, look no further than America.
This image was very popular with short men where I found it. It seems like short men are so starved for affection, they happily accept backhanded compliments.
If a girl told my Asian ass "you have the strength of a white man," I wouldn't take that as a good thing. I would think she harbors racist beliefs. Same with height. People believe taller is better, so when a girl's boyfriend is short, he has to be "tall on the inside" or some shit.
So long as we excuse and encourage this mentality, heightism will never change. There's no sugarcoating it. Still, I'll admit the odds of finding someone who doesn't think this way are slim, so most short men either take it or leave it.
Pathetic state of affairs. Even small breasted women have loads of defenders when they're insinuated to be inferior. See here. I doubt "you have big titties on the inside" would make sense or be accepted by most people. I'd be laughed out of the conversation, not embraced the way short men embrace backhanded compliments.
Life isn't fair, right? More like people go mad for tall height. If we linked this much mental positivity to any other physical trait, it would be deemed a fetish or flat out bigotry.
Here is perhaps the best example of this "great short men are tall" mentality: 5'2 Victor Espinoza is told he performs like a tall man. Guess he wasn't positive or confident enough to simply be a great short man. Great short men are "taller in many metaphorical respects."
I came across a good comment summing up how heightism traps short men into never fighting back:
"One guy innocently points out
that as a shorter guy it sucks to see the author refer to short men as
stumpy and taller men as impressive, only to have another user reply to
him with this:
'And all the coverage on Chris Christie's weight, despite him being
quite physically able. Come on, is this American Idol? The fact that
people care so deeply just shows how insecure they are.'
That sums up western hatred to short men just there. 'It's just a
prank bro. Learn to laugh at your shorter stature. If you have a problem
with me mocking your height that just makes you insecure now'.
Fuck society. Humanity really hasn't come that far it seems. No
wonder so many people just put a pistol to their head these days. People
are dicks." - Original comment.
I've seen many short men who believe that by mocking their own height, heightism will be remedied, i.e. by calling themselves "manlets" they "own it" or something. Or they simply shut their mouths like good little boys, like a child getting scolded and not talking back. You see, defiance in the face of heightism makes one "insecure," so it's better to just "let it bounce off you."
It's all fairy tale bullshit. Convenient excuses, for the bullies to feel justified and the short men to do nothing, because deep down short men know that retaliating in any fashion is socially taboo. I once saw a popular comment outright state: "We don't hate short men. We only hate the ones who don't make fun of themselves." That's literally all a short man has to do to draw ire. He's not insulting their family or something, he just doesn't want to dance when they tell him to dance, so he's an asshole. Why any proud short man would want to bring joy and laughter (at his expense) to those who hold him in contempt, is beyond me. I've said it before: for many short men, I guess it's better to be the group clown than not be in any group at all. Think about how many self-deprecating short men already exist. Think about how many short men just "deal with it." Why has heightism not been quelled one bit? Rhetorical question.
It's also telling how every shot at short men is considered "just a
prank," but merely pointing out a woman's weight is considered poor
taste in this society, let alone publicly mocking a fat lady. I've seen this mentality several times: a short man is mocked, another person replaces "short man" with "fat woman," then somebody else claims the fat line is maliciousness and therefore rude, but the short "jokes" are fun and games. What these people don't understand is that they've been taught by society to think everything towards short men is harmless, while anything about a woman's body is shaming. Name one joke about short men that people agree is rude. Now tell me a joke about fat women that people consider inoffensive.
Remember: short men are not insecure when telling people to fuck off for discriminating. In fact, it's objectively the harder course of action, as everyone will gang up on short men who "take themselves too seriously." These short men are "insecure, sensitive, bitter, have short man syndrome," etc... Fight back regardless. Think of it this way: they already have no respect for short men in general.
AKA "What Complex Would This Be?" Part 2 (part 1 is here).
2:25 is when the action starts:
Lesson here is that you can shove people and order them around, then receive zero repercussions, so long as you're a tall dude who does bicep curls.
In these situations, no short man can truly win and tall bullies know it. There are only three options for short men:
The shorter man slinkers away like a coward. These scumbags get away with it, and go through the rest of their lives walking around like they own the place.
Short man is too weak yet retaliates anyway, getting his ass kicked.
The short man is trained in combat/built like a bulldog, and thus feels confident enough to fight back verbally/physically. Here, he'd likely be labeled with a complex or syndrome, even though tall men are quicker to flip out.
Personally, I'd go with number three. The moment the tall guy put his hands on that stranger, and invaded his personal space to get in his face, it's fair game. Obviously due to legal reasons, it would be unwise to curbstomp him into the pavement, but a simple takedown and submission to restrain him is no big deal. Since there's no respect to lose in the first place, socially it doesn't matter. Either they think you're a typical short wimp, or a classic example of sensitive short man syndrome. Tall men are never reprimanded en masse.
Unfortunately, the little guy in the video decided to preach in public whilst being scrawny and having no means of defense. Guess he never learned that free speech is a myth, especially if you're a shorter man. Whatever you happen to be rambling about, pray The Tall Patrol is not watching, for they are ever vigilant and ready to make sure your short ass knows its place.
Yet only short men will ever be universally stereotyped as control freaks. When people say "life isn't fair," they really mean "society lets tall men get away with shit." When people claim the law protects the weak, they tend to leave out how the law also protects bullies from consequences.
I'm just left wondering if our tall hero has a poor quality of life. I doubt it, despite those who claim bullies are insecure and have no friends. Since bullies tend to have more self-esteem, that has to come from somewhere. To have the audacity to pull what he did, he must fancy himself a god. People probably respect him more often, because our language has caused society to take "look up to" literally. Even though women claim it's often about personality and not looks, I'd bet a ton of money that this tall guy gets laid more often than the nicest short men, especially non-white ones.
Now if only everyone would admit all this. After all, nobody in the video did anything to stop the tall guy. They turned a blind eye at best, snickered at worst. I wonder why. It's almost like this "alpha male, king of the jungle" behavior is normalized in society. Of course, when short men play this game, it's called Short Man Syndrome. The fact that only short men have a label for this proves how tall men play by different rules.
Still, short men shouldn't let heightism or stereotype threats determine their victimhood. The moment a short man trains with weights and combat sports, he's compensating. If he acts defiantly in public, he's a Napoleon. I have seen countless short men use these excuses to remain weak. Don't. That's what these labels are meant to do. Our media often portrays tall men as superheroes, but at the end of the day, they bleed and they break, so don't be so easily spooked. They won't flick you away with one finger.
To end on a good note, not every short man allows himself to be pushed around, and bless them for that.
