Woke: Short men are stereotyped negatively because of bias, similar to how an aggressive female is a bitch but an aggressive male isn't. It's also a way for people to antagonize any short man they want, then if one becomes indignant about it, the blame is place on him and his "short man syndrome."
I have to ask, do those who fall into the first school of thought feel the same way about any other physical trait? From what I've seen, most people (at least publicly) are very politically correct nowadays. They will tell you that everyone has an equal chance of being an asshole, regardless of genetic appearance... Except for short men. It's funny how height is currently the only superficial trait where it's widely accepted that someone is a better or worse person because of it.
If you stereotype any other group as being more dastardly due to their looks, others will think you're either joking or you're prejudiced. After all, many have been branded as evil throughout history due to nothing more than skin-deep reasons, but these days we are told that this occurred because of discrimination. Of course, due to the fallacy of relative privation, similar consideration is not shown towards short men (because we all know it's not discrimination until somebody gets lynched).
Whatever the case, this experiment below has already proven that people are biased against short men on sight:
A short male could just be standing there and people will assume worse about him. Could this bias be where these negative stereotypes stem from? The video above is talking about subconscious height bias, but considering the widespread usage of labels like “short man syndrome,” it’s clear that this bias has become a conscious one. Or is it the other way around, and these negative stereotypes have affected how people look at short men?
Either way, the "Napoleon complex" stereotype was coined and spread around over a century ago, back when people were allowed to discriminate more freely. This makes it extra humorous when even the politically correct among us today can't add two and two together, failing to realize these derogatory stereotypes are remnants of worse times. The best part is how the stereotype started as a mere hypothesis, but now it's taken as proven fact.
One of the first who entertained the idea of a "Napoleon complex" was Alfred Adler. Around that same time period, he theorized that homosexuals exist due to their fear of the opposite sex:
"According to Phyllis Bottome, who wrote Adler's Biography (after Adler himself laid upon her that task): "He always treated homosexuality as lack of courage. These were but ways of obtaining a slight release for a physical need while avoiding a greater obligation. A transient partner of your own sex is a better known road and requires less courage than a permanent contact with an "unknown" sex."
"Adler believed that a same-gender sexual orientation was “caused” by a sense of failure or incapability to succeed as compared to other men (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1964). He believed that such a male would develop passive coping techniques to get people to love and worship him. Furthermore, a gay male was viewed as failing in his responsibility to help preserve the human race. Adler argued that all deviations from love based in procreation were stimulated by fear of the other sex and a refusal to make the sacrifices and compromises that intimacy and love often necessitate (A. Adler, 1932, 1938). Not only were gay men seen as failing in love and sex but they were also viewed as failing in friendship. Adler believed that ties to same-gender playmates were easier to establish and maintain than social ties to a member of the opposite gender. If a child had not been taught or nurtured in a manner where he did not learn to cooperate, he would take the path of least resistance yielding to any situation providing him flattery, protection or support. The child would never strive to grow or develop his friendships (A. Adler, 1938). Finally, Adler argued that gay men and lesbians were not even stable in their jobs or occupations. Both gay men and lesbians were hindered in the work place by their inability to cooperate, inordinate ambition and exceeding cowardice. These traits resulted in gay men and lesbians changing jobs more frequently and working schedules that varied from their heterosexual counterparts (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1964)."This was the same era when the one and only Sigmund Freud, also a colleague of Adler's, thought women have "penis envy" and that men desire to sleep with their own mothers. Note that I'm not trying to discredit these famous guys. I'm just saying many of their ideas are currently considered outdated, yet the Napoleon Complex isn't. Why not? Is it because gender and homosexuality are more historically documented? Because I'm not sure how that stops a theory from being loony or not.
Whatever Adler believed, he has single-handedly done permanent damage to short men, which is ironic because he apparently advocated for equality and mutual respect. Now a short man can rarely display ambition, assertiveness, or aggression without being diagnosed with a complex.
