INTRODUCTION
I love being tantalizingly tall and tempting. I don’t have much of a choice in that matter. Either you love what makes you unique or despise it. Lord knows there are lots of people who will let you know how they feel about your uniqueness.
If I earned a dollar each and every time someone felt the need to inform me of this one defining characteristic I’d be a wealthy woman. Usually, I think to myself, Really Sherlock? Figured that one out all by yourself, huh? But for the sake of tolerance, most times, I say nothing and simply smile. I humor myself because I am a really a fun loving, humorous person. Besides, if I said what I really wanted to, I’d be referred to by a few ugly terms.
The tall survive in a sea of people much shorter and we are very much aware of this fact. We are reminded everywhere and in nearly every way because almost everything caters to the average height person. We have to constantly look down so that we don’t break our shins on low lying furniture or accidentally step on a child or pet. To avoid a concussion, we must stoop to enter most doorways and fold ourselves into an embryonic position in order to fit in a coach seat on a plane or in a midsize car.
Perfect strangers find it socially acceptable to ask you to reach for things they can’t get to in department stores. It’s not that it is hard to do, but we don’t ask short people to pick up something off the ground that we’ve dropped.
Alas, I can hear you now, ‘Oh Boohoo!!! Quit your whining. You’re tall, thin and can eat or wear anything.’ Actually, that is not entirely true. Regardless of the generous sizing designers allow in clothing, my legs and arms stick out of most garments, like hand me downs on a stick figure. Regular length jeans on leggy girls look like a pair of capris.
All humor aside, the motivation for this book is to offer a peek into the life and times of tall women; a glimpse of the daily challenges of what it’s like to be a towering and totally terrific babe. I hope to bring attention to the ways in which some people in our society make it acceptable to verbally accost others. It is usually the ones who revert to mean or aggressive behavior to compensate for their lack of height. Many of us simply refer to it as the Napoleon complex.
Much like the blonde who’s heard one too many dumb blonde jokes, I am personally exhausted by the mindless jabs at tall women. Being a product of New Orleans, Louisiana, I’m often asked if I know any Voodoo. If I did, there would be a lot of half witted, one legged, jackasses wandering the streets of America. And if I were a tall drink of water, I’d probably drown the next person who considers themselves clever by their thirst for insult.
We all have learned that usually the reason behind an insult or someone pointing out differences in another is mere ignorance.
Hopefully, some of the suggestions found in these pages can be applied to ease the frustration of someone who had been made to feel that their unique physical characteristic, whatever it may be, is a fault or a flaw. As India Arie says in her song, Video, “…I know my creator didn’t make no mistakes on me.”
No need to endure the cruel and consistent prodding of the societal paparazzi. We all have something that sets us apart from the norm and others that classifies us with various group. So for the sake of tolerance, we are EVEN. Everyone has their stuff that makes them special. I happen to be tall among other talents. A bald guy may have an extraordinary talent for communicating in helping others deal with problems in their lives. The overweight woman may be blessed with the most beautiful and powerful singing voice ever heard.
Where one person may be blessed with more in one aspect of their life, someone else may have abundance in another. So for the sake of balance, we are all even.
Chapter Six
Standing UP and out
It’s great being a tall woman. We make men whimper. Tall women strut their stuff and wear it well. Men love long legs. They swoon over the idea of climbing up to pick of our Divine fruit.
High heel shoes are a great device for warding off the weenie man. And yes, we know that we don’t need to appear any taller, but we do it anyway. Heels actually make our legs look even longer and leaner. Flat shoes, in my book, are considered faux pas to most fashion. I refuse to suffer bad fashion taste to appease someone’s ego.
However, height is also linked to self-confidence in dating. Again, Timothy Judge also found in his study that taller people are viewed as more authoritative figures.
One thing I found interesting in Professor Judge’s report, were the results related to evolution. When man lived among animals, size was an index of power and strength.
“When humans evolved as a species and still lived in the jungles or on the plains, they ascribed leader-like qualities to tall people because they thought they would be better able to protect them,” Judge said.
In the dating arena, it can be difficult for the vertically enhanced to find someone who appreciates them for who and what they stand for (pun intended). Again, we find people can be terribly crude and insensitive.
The US Department of Health and Human Services reports that the average American adult female stands just under 5’4” and that less than one percent (.7) of us are 5’10” or taller. Compare that to the average adult male who stands 5’9.1” with 3.9 percent being 6’2” or taller.
However, it seems that most women, regardless of their height, love tall, dark and handsome men. Height is indicative of protection and security. This places tall women in a very competitive market. Tall women not only compete with other women, tall or not, for available tall men, but we also compete with the male ego.
