# Women over 6' tall, Women under 5' tall...please check in with your stats. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 23, 2001, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-6-tall-women-under-5-tall-please-check-in-with-your-stats/51394 "2001-01-23T14:27:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-6-tall-women-under-5-tall-please-check-in-with-your-stats/51394/21 "2001-01-25T06:42:36Z")
5’11" here (and female, despite the misleading name). The height is just a fact of life. Extremely introverted, and was painfully shy when I was growing up. Being tall was a disadvantage because it’s very hard to be inconspicuous when you tower over everyone else. FWIW, my equally tall sister, mom and cousin are happy extroverts. I never cared if a man was shorter but it bothers lots of men. I’m fairly well proportioned but most of my height is in my legs. Real bummer to get along great w/ a guy, then have his face freeze over when I stood up and he realized how tall I am. My main complaint? Clothes. Shopping is a nightmare. I’ve found a few local stores and some good catalog outlets for clothing w/ adequate length. It’s pricey and I resent it, but most mall clothing just doesn’t have enough hem to let down. Second worse complaint: airline seating, etc. I usually specify an emergency exit or first row behind a bulkhead because otherwise my knees are jammed right into the seat in front. I can’t possibly cross my legs, and sometimes can’t even slew sideways enough to ease the pressure. It’s hideously uncomfortable. When I renovated the kitchen I deliberately raised all the counters 3" above standard. The carpenter warned it’d effect the resale value of the house it’s been worth it in daily stooping saved. Would I change it? It’d be nice to be 2-3" shorter maybe for the reasons above, but otherwise I’m fine w/ it. Veb ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-6-tall-women-under-5-tall-please-check-in-with-your-stats/51394/22 "2001-01-25T14:21:03Z")
On another random aside, the mention of inseams earlier made me think of my issues. I have a 38-40" inseam. I dare you to easily find an inseam that long that doesn’t also come attached with a 40+" waist (mine is 36). Yes, finding pants is pretty difficult, so I do my best to just walk around casually naked (although they don’t let me volunteer at the senior citizen’s home anymore.) ---
**Author:** ![Suo\_Na](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Suo\_Na](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suo_Na)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-6-tall-women-under-5-tall-please-check-in-with-your-stats/51394/23 "2001-01-25T16:08:40Z")
Although I don’t fit your parameters, I do have something to add about being short. I’m 5’4" which is the North American average for women, and I too have all the problems that’ve been mentioned above. I’ll also add: the people behind deli cases in grocery stores never see me, I can’t comfortably reach the horizontal bar on a bus, and peepholes on doors are always too high. The only city I’ve never had a problem in is Vancouver, where even my kitchen cupboards were a decent height. I swear this entire continent (except, for some strange reason, showers in the western US\*) was designed for six foot tall men. \*[sub]Every shower head I’ve used west Nebraska is too low, even for me.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Iolanthe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7bcc69/32.png) [@Iolanthe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iolanthe)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-6-tall-women-under-5-tall-please-check-in-with-your-stats/51394/24 "2001-01-26T03:33:12Z")
So here’s one of my dirty little secrets, which I will now share with the people in this thread, and about 12,000 of my closest friends - I say that I’m 5’0" exactly, but at my last physical, I was measured at 4’11 1/2". Don’t tell anyone. Of course, that was a while ago; I might have gotten my extra 1/2 inch. Most everything said here about being short applies to me too. Finding clothes, high shelves, being taken for a 12 year old (this happened a couple of months ago, and I’m 23 years old,) reaching the ceiling bar on the subway, all of it. I must admit, the fact that my feet often will not reach the floor depresses me (and like **racerx** , I often sit cross-legged. However, I do get an advantage. I did (still do, as soon as I find a group) a lot of theatre and choral singing. Short girls have an excuse to be front and center, all of the time. Hey, I gotta see the conductor. And I’ve worked in a couple of comedic bits, based on me standing next to guys who are more than a foot taller than me. I’ve been short all of my life, as have my mother and older sister, so it never seriously occurred to me to want to be tall. I still don’t, even if clothes are all made for women who are 5’9" and 100 lbs. I know that my very tall female friends have a hellacious time finding clothes too. Not that I’d cry if I woke up tomorrow at 5’6", but I wouldn’t wish for it. I’m not small-framed, definitely curvy, and I’ve been told I have a rushed and serious air, so like **Opalcat** , no one thinks I’m as short as I am. A close friend and I had an amusing moment recently: we sat together on a couch. I extended my legs, he extended his, and he realized anew how short I was. I’m an introvert, but with a very extroverted side. I adore attention, if it’s on my terms. And given the chance and right circumstances, I will happily goof-off or sing in front of random strangers. And I’ll discuss my height at great length. Oh, and here’s my non-scientific height survey: height has no correlation to male voice part (the tenors aren’t necessarily shorter than the bartiones and basses.) FYI. ---
**Author:** ![Rosebud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rosebud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rosebud)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-6-tall-women-under-5-tall-please-check-in-with-your-stats/51394/25 "2001-01-26T04:09:07Z")
Just want to chime in on the optical illusion idea-- I get the same thing. I’m only 5’ 3", but I usually wear chunky shoes which give me an extra inch or three. Most people don’t seem to realize I’m as short as I am. I have kitchen cabinets I can’t use because I can’t reach the top shelves. I went shopping with a friend, who happens to be 5’ 11", once, and as we’re trying stuff on in front of a big mirror-- without our shoes on-- she gets this look of amazement on her face, peers down at me from her loftiness, and says, “I didn’t know you were so _short!_” Frankly I’m so used to the height I get from my shoes, I feel weird wearing flats. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-6-tall-women-under-5-tall-please-check-in-with-your-stats/51394/26 "2001-01-26T07:14:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mullinator \* > \*\*On another random aside, the mention of inseams earlier made me think of my issues. I have a 38-40" inseam. I dare you to easily find an inseam that long that doesn’t also come attached with a 40+" waist (mine is 36). Yes, finding pants is pretty difficult, so I do my best to just walk around casually naked (although they don’t let me volunteer at the senior citizen’s home anymore.) \*\* Try finding 32" waist, 40" inseam jeans off the rack sometime. (That is what Tom wore… he had a hell of a time, but damn he looked sexy!) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-6-tall-women-under-5-tall-please-check-in-with-your-stats/51394/27 "2001-01-26T07:16:47Z")
I get the optical illusion thing even barefoot. I don’t understand it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-6-tall-women-under-5-tall-please-check-in-with-your-stats/51394.md?page=1)