Height
 

I just discovered something new about myself. I am just as self-conscious about my height as I am about my weight. :( When I go out with my girlfriends (they are predominately 5'2'') I feel like the bionic woman; not just because I weigh more, but because I tower over all of them.

I spent 4 years of my life (age 9-13) in Japan. I was already 5'6'' in 6th grade. I towered over the MEN there, I am sure you can imagine how I appeared around the other children. I am sure this experience has added to my complex.

I have noticed there are women even taller than I am on these forums...and some of you are probably thinking "this girl is only 5'7'', WTH is she worried about?". But I think somehow I developed this yearning to be a tiny petite person... and no matter how thin I get, I will always tower over most of the other women in my life. I will never feel small. :(

I have this issue, and I am only 5'4"! LOL! For me, I think it's because I'm the tallest woman in my family. My mom is only 4'10". I'm taller than all the aunts and cousins. I'm even taller than my grandpa and one uncle! And I was my full height by the fourth grade, so I have felt like an amazon my entire life and just never got over it. Having weight on me to boot just doesn't help.

Don't know if it helps, but I would just love to be taller. I don't feel petite or dainty, I feel like a chipmunk.

I also feel the same way a lot of the time. I'm between 5'8 and 5'9. I hate being the tallest girl for some reason. Which is kind of strange, because I thought women wanted to be tall and beautiful like models. Many of them are around 6ft!

But it's also drilled into us that women are supposed to be petite and smaller than men, so when we're the tallest girl around, it does make us feel awkward.

I have kind of accepted my height. My best friend is 5'11, and she's totally comfortable with her height. She's dating a guy who is 5'8, lol. It does help to be around people of similar heights. However, I've also gotten lots of compliments on my beautiful long legs and such (thank you, boyfriend), and I'm starting to accept the one part of me that is model-ish, haha.

Hey! :wave:

Now that you've discovered that your "yearning to be small" is never going to work out, you can use that insight to help yourself! When you feel dissatisfied with your body for no good reason, you can always say, "Oh, that's that 'tall' thing again," and then move on! Good for you for realizing this.
:bravo:

Jay

Hey, I feel that way too and always have. As I am getting older though, I am beginning to enjoy my height a little more. I have always adored petite women and wished I could be tiny like them. Alas, it is not to be so I might as well try to like what I got! :)

I'm only 5' and I'm the tallest of the women on my mom's side of the family (who are all in the 4'9"-4'11" range), but otherwise I'm shorter than pretty much everyone I know in real life. My husband is 5'11" and I feel like a (fat) shrimp next to him LOL

I used to be really self-concious about my height. In high school, my nickname amongst my friends was "munchkin" or "shorty". It's a pain finding pants that don't need to be hemmed, and an even bigger pain finding them in plus sizes.

As I've gotten older, though, I've learned to not only accept my height, but to love it. I have small feet so I can save money on shoes by buying them in the kids' sizes! Even though I'm so overweight, I still feel small with my husband. My feet don't hang off the end of my bed LOL I can wear capri-length yoga pants like regular length pants! I don't bang my head on open cupboard doors.

You need to try and embrace all the good things about your height. You don't have to get a step stool in order to reach the top shelf in your cupboards (I need a step stool to reach the back of the bottom shelves!). Most regular length pants probably fit you off the rack. Most taller women carry their weight well... you may be overweight at 150lbs, but someone as short as me looks downright obese at the same weight! You can wear the longer style shirts that are popular without it looking like you're wearing a too-short dress LOL You can easily see over the steering wheel in your car! You can find someone you're looking for in a crowd, and probably don't get lost in a crowd, either!

I'm sure all the short people like me are sitting here dumbfounded, unable to comprehend this. You WANT to never be able to find pants and skirts that are short enough? You WANT to not be able to reach things on shelves, or see yourself in most apartment bathroom mirrors without standing on your tiptoes? You WANT to have to eat fewer calories a day to maintain when you reach your goal, or to have to search for hours to find a one-piece bathing suit that's short enough?

If you added up all those times it takes an extra 30 seconds to get out the step stool every time I need something from the top shelf in my kitchen... I can't imagine how many hours I'd save being taller!!

:lol: Of course I'm mostly joking... as much as I'd LOVE just an extra 3 or 4 inches, I can understand how it would suck to feel bigger than everyone else around you. :hug:

:dizzy: unfortunately, I have the opposite problem that you do. The regular jeans are too short. haha I have a 33.5 inch inseam (short torso), regular jeans usually come in 32. So, If they dont have "long" or "tall", I am SOL.

For me it's less about height and more about frame size. Some women just have tiny frames--they fit size 0s naturally and look good rather than skeletal. I'll probably never be below a size 6 bc that's just the size of my frame. (I'm around 20%bf, 5'4.75", 131lbs, 27.5" waist/36.5" hips and average a size 8. I'm a 30 or even 31 in some designer jeans...I could never lose enough weight to get down even to a 26.) I always wanted a smaller frame but now I hope that my larger frame means that I can carry more muscle as well, and be really strong :)

I'm taller than all the women in my family. I am always amazed when I see tall women and a bit jealous. I usually think 'wow she is awesome'. Look at people like Tyra Banks (5'10"), Geena Davis (6'0") and Uma Thurman (5'11").

I was quite self-conscious about my height when I was 16, but it most mostly because the guy I had a MAJOR crush on was the same height as me (if not a bit shorter) and on top of that, his posture was terrible. He was on his way to develop a real hunchback.

Now, I am SO HAPPY I am tall, I can't even tell you. I would happily add another inch to my height if I could, and I enjoy wearing high heels. Everything looks better on tall girls - I hear that comment so often when I shop for clothing. Sales associates tell me that, other fellow shoppers tell me that, sometimes quite enviously. I only wish the clothes manufacturers made the darn stuff a bit longer.
I don't consider anybody who is 5'7" tall - probably in the same fashion as 6'1" gals don't consider anybody of my height tall. :-)
Anyway, enjoy your height and wear your head high. And wear high heels!

Oh gosh, I have never once wanted to be shorter. I wish I were taller!

I have been tall my entire life. I was always that one girl in the back row of class pictures among all the boys. My best friend growing up had a hormone related disease that kept her under 5 feet and my best friend now is just over 5 feet. However, my husband is 6'2 (our kids will have NO chance at being short- his dad is 6'9 and Uncle is 6'11 :fr:)

In middle school and a little of high school I longed to be tiny and petite. Around age 17 or 18 I decided I liked being tall. There were a lot of advantages I hadn't really considered before. I even came to this conclusion while I was dating a guy who swore he was 5'8 but we all knew he was 5'7 tops. It is all in the way you choose to perceive things.

Now, as a middle school teacher I love the fact that I am tall. On the first day of school I know it is going to be a good year if I am taller than most of my students. :) I think I have an easier time with classroom management because of my height.

You can't change it so my advice is to enjoy it. Work actively on enjoying it. If you choose to look at only the good it can only get better. We are stuck where we live for 5 more months (moving in June :carrot:). For the last year both my husband and I have been almost depressed about being here. Then one day in November we woke up and said we have to be here so we will make the best of it. It has been so much better! We try to find the good things about where we live and try to focus very little on the bad. Eventually, who knows, maybe we will actually miss this place when we move...maybe.

Hope this wasn't to rambling and made some sense :dizzy:.

I hear you on the idea that you developed a complex when you were younger...

I got all my height (and my boobs) in middle school and I absolutely towered over people in those days. I was adult sized and a lot of my friends were still skinny short little toothpick kids...

But, now, I love being tall, wear heels whenever I can, and am jealous of my sisters-in-law who are 5'9 and 5'10. And my hubby is shorter than me, which doesn't bother me a bit.

I agree with Jay-Ell-- let your insight work to your advantage. Realize that when you feel big it's your mind playing tricks on you. At 5'7" and 155 I'm sure you look terrific and beautiful!

I am 5'9", and never thought of myself as tall growing up because I was the shortest one in my family! My sister is 6', dad is 6'4" and little brother is 6'5"! My sister played basketball, so all her friends towered over me as well.

The older I got though, the more I felt like some Amazon next to most women. I did envy their little tiny bodies, and small feet (size 10 here)

Now my daughter is 14. And she's ALWAYS been tiny. Really tiny. At the start of this school year, she was 5'1" and 89 lbs. (try finding a size 00 long pants!) But now, her feet are growing, she's wearing a size 9 shoe already, and has grown 3 inches. She confided in me that she doesn't WANT to get tall, she's always liked being the smallest one around.

We've had a few discussions about that. I think now, that she's in high school, she's actually looking forward to getting a little taller. The boys are starting to grow, (my oldest two boys are 6', and my third boy is at 6'2" now and still growing) So being tall is looking better and better to her. Plus, it would sure help shopping for her, if she'd grow just a bit!

(plus, she's been eyeing all my shoes, if and when she gets to a size 10!) :)

Sure, Tomato, rub it in... ;)

I'm here, as a shrimpkin, to say that yes, I understand why being tall might not feel so great, but being petite ain't so hot either. I'm happy to be losing, but I'm unhappy because it's already meant a return to being picked up for no reason, a return to being referred to as "adorable"... great, I'm a grown adult and I'm adorable! Shoulders are too wide for me, pants too long, dresses - wow. Hey look, now it's a drop waist!!

Everything does look better on tall girls by the way. I recently spent several unhappy minutes pressed up against a shop window, moaning about a BEAUTIFUL plaid taffeta full length shirtdress displayed on a mannequin inside. It was GORGEOUS and that dress would have eaten me. Someone your height would have rocked that dress like nobody's business.

I'm trying to enjoy what I have. I don't smack my head on anything! I can drive tiny sports cars without looking like some kind of origami trick when I enter or exit. I can save money on children's shoes... (Who said that? STOP giving away trade secrets!!!!)

Try to enjoy what you got... :hug:

Eek! That was what I was thinking! Sorry.:o I would give up several inches of my height in a heartbeat if it were possible. I would kill to be your height! But I do understand the feelings you describe - always towering, never feeling small (EVER), wishing you were petite. I despise being tall. When people tell me, oh I wish I was as tall as you, what I think they really mean is, I wish I was as tall as you, but with my own build. I'm built like a linebacker! What girl would want that? Huge ribcage, super wide shoulders, my bare skeleton would probably wear an XL top.

Now the logical side of me says, get over it (to me and to you). We can't change our height. So unless we intend to be miserable about it for the rest of our lives, we need to accept what we are. Be proud of it. Know that some of us are wishing we were in your shoes (both people who are shorter and taller than you). Learn to like who you are and that includes the package you come in. :hug:

I don't want to sound rude, okay?

You do NOT TOWER OVER ANYBODY!!!!

It is most definitely a complex because you are of average height.

I don't consider ANYBODY to be tall, because I actually AM tall LOL!

My husband is 5ft 8. I am 6ft 7. I know all about towering. I tower over EVERYBODY. You, my dear, do not tower. Take off your blindfold - you look great!!

I know exACTLY how you feel. I'm 5'11'' and I have no friends who are equal/taller than me. Here's a picture of me and my two best friends (guess which one is me!). It is very frustrating. I feel like I am so little inside, I could just curl up and disappear, but I'm large AND imposing. For me, it helps to be with animals who don't judge you, and who see EVERYONE as huge. :) Like, for instance, pet rats. They're the best. :hug:

Ha! I LOVE being tall! I only wish I were taller! I want to be 5'9". As someone said, I don't even consider 5'7" tall. LOL! I think that's average.

Tall girls ROCK! :-) ...embrace it.

My only issue is the abundance of short men. Bleh. I like tall guys. I want to feel protected in my man's arms. 6'0" and up is my preference for men.

Side note--they are wearing heels and I am barefooted. XD


And to shorter people-- At least you're not the "human ladder" who has to get everything on/off the top shelves. "Can you reach that?" Why, yes. Yes, I can. ;)

Lahlem..YOURE not even tall!! LOL Let me show you a picture of me and MY friends.
I'll have to find it.

LMAO! I AM tall! XD Don't you take that away from me! ;)

I promise I'm not saying these things to be rude. I just want you 'tall' people who are insecure about your 'height' to put yourselves into perspective. You DONT stand out and you DONT tower.

This is an example of standing out and towering: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...51af646d9c.jpg

Another thing....

I like wearing high heeled boots, too! I never want to be shorter.

...taller, taller, taller!!

Tall girls are total glam! :-)) ...I wouldn't give away my height if I could.

lol I am the brunette all the way to the left... This is why i feel like the bionic woman.Attachment 34333

I don't see it...

You look fantastic! All I see is a beauty with a bunch of short friends.

You stand out in the best possible way. Gorgeous!

I always wanted to be a shorty. No such luck.

It's hard in a culture that focuses on having everything the SAME to be different. Especially when you don't get a choice in the matter. We've got to mix things up and be empowered by difference. :)

Thank you, ladies. :hug: With all of the advice I have gotten, I am going to try to work on it... If I could just lose 2 or 3 inches, I would be so happy... BUT... since that isnt going to happen, I will just work on it.

Sunshine, that's easy to tell - you the MOST GORGEOUS ONE out of the three in the picture. Please remember that. :hug:
And I mean it!

Thundahthighs, sorry, I didn't mean to rub anything in. I just want to say that being tall comes with its own problems as well. It's really the same like being a very hour shaped woman who cannot find jeans that don't gape at the waist.
It's the same like being a woman with a large chest who cannot find a shirt that would fit her. It is just a different sort of problems, that's all. For one - hardly any pants are long enough. I am not that tall but I guess my legs are long and so I need jeans with longer inseam which appears to be quite a challenge.

And as Cali Doll said - men (or at least the majority of men) are too short. I tried online dating for a while and I was frustrated that I could not base my searches on height. I know, many will think it is not the most important aspect but I have always liked tall guys. I consider 6'2" to be the bare minimum. For some reason I was like a magnet for guys of my own height, or guys who were 5'8" or 5"10 tall. It just doesn't cut it for me. So I am happy to be back with my ex-BF who is 6'4" (of course, that's not the only reason why I like him).

Tomato :hug:

Oh my goodness, you have no idea how many times I've been embarrassed at the grocery store from having to stop some stranger and ask them to reach something off a top shelf for me (or sometimes not even the top shelf, if the only items on a lower shelf are so far back I can't reach them)!

Wow, you are really beautiful! You have one of those "model-beautiful" faces and your hair is gorgeous! When I wore my hair long it would take an hour with a blow dryer and a curling iron to get it looking that good... only to have it fall flat again an hour later LOL

Oh man, am I ever with you on this!

I'm dating online now and I KEEP getting matched with guys who are 5'8" through 5'10". *sigh* I wear 3 inch heeled boots most times when dressing up (in the winter). I need at least 6'0" to feel comfortable. I will say, if the man is comfortable with my being taller than him, I'm usually sort of OK...but, I just prefer having to reach up and stretch to put my arms around my guy. I love that! I love being tall but feeling petite with my guy. (((Such a great feeling))).

The last guy I dated (we're friends now) is 6'1"...I love it. I used to wear my boots and call him shorty (even though he was still a couple of inches taller than me w/ boots). LOL!

Now... I want all you chickies who are talking about how a man has to be X feet Y inches tall to even be considered--to remember this thread the next time a poster is all upset because her boyfriend says he is turned off by her weight. ;) :rofl:

Jay

LOL! Personally, I don't see a thing wrong with having a physical preference (height OR weight). I DO have a problem with someone being jerky about it, though! (ie, someone saying "You disgust me! Lose weight or I'm leaving you!")

I never tell guys, "Sorry, you are too short and I feel like a giant when I'm with you. Go find someone else to embarrass!". :o

Height, weight, hair color, eye color...we all have things we prefer. There's nothing wrong with that.

JayEll,
Your wishes are my orders. :D
I am guilty as charged.

A quick comment for Cali Doll:
I watched an episode (possibly a rerun, I dunno) of The Millionaire Matchmaker. The matchmaker had a guy, 5'8", interested in finding a girlfriend. He had a chance to watch the 'candidates' through a one way mirror when they were interviewed by the matchmaker. Most said 5'8" was too short for them. The guy commented that he never thought of himself as not being tall. I almost cracked a rib laughing.

And I do realize we have male posters here, too. To them I direct my apologies. I am sure there are many men who request that a woman have long hair - just our personal prefs.