At one point in our lives, we all knew what it was like to be short. Our toddler selves struggled to touch the kitchen sink without a stool, reaching the top shelf of a cabinet required some serious mountaineering, and while sitting in a chair your feet never quite made it to the ground. For many, however, some of the height-related struggles we faced as toddlers never quite faded from our lives.
1. People insists on telling you you're short.
As if you didn't already know. Most of the time, it's your friends and family who remind you of just how tall you aren't. They'll give a quick "how's it going down there" or lovingly rest their elbow on your shoulder because they know you totally adore that. Occasionally, they may remark on how you look shorter than usual that day, as if height changes the way hair does. Other times, a friend (and sometimes stranger) will pat your head the same way they would a dog. Apparently, being somewhat as tall as a large dog means you should be treated like one, too! Isn't that sweet?
2. Clothes shopping is so awful.
Just like your long-limbed friends, you go clothes shopping. Unlike said friends, you must deal with the reality that 90 percent of the clothes you like won't fit you. T-shirts meant to reach your hips actually slink down to your thighs, dresses intended to stop at your ankles swamp around your feet instead and nothing compares to the terrors of jeans. Pants in general are a true hassle for shorter people. What will fit you at your waist will cover your feet in cloth, but the pants that sit well at your ankles will be too tight at your waist. If you can afford it, you may opt to alter clothes to fit you comfortably. Otherwise, you're stuck shopping until you get lucky or find a section specifically designed for people your height.
3. You are or have been self-conscious about your height.
Even for those who aren't unfairly teased about their height, being shorter than average can harm your self-esteem. Magazines, television and advertisements hardly feature people who aren't tall, and that often serves as a reminder that smaller frames are not a body ideal. The lack of representation of different body types in the media, in addition to mockery in one's personal life, can easily make someone ashamed of their height. You know, height. That thing people can't really choose, influence or change. That same thing people should stop using as a tool for degrading others.
4. Height discrimination is totally a thing.
We hear of discrimination based on race, age, religion and sex, but height discrimination is rarely discussed. Although all short people can face height discrimination, men are particularly subject to this inequality. Shorter men are unconsciously seen as weaker, less confident and less masculine than taller men. That grants them fewer opportunities in their professional and personal lives. Shorter men and women are less likely to be found attractive, are given fewer high-power positions and are more likely to be dismissed by others.
5. You relish in all the benefits being short gives you.
While being short has its drawbacks, it certainly has benefits, too. You're automatically the best at hide and seek since you can fit into smaller spaces. You'll never struggle with a lack of legroom in a car or on an airplane and you always make it to the front of concerts and group pictures. Friends who have to duck to walk under a door frame make you laugh and you never have to do that awkward bend tall people do when you hug them. See? It's a charmed life.
