I’m 5’1", and wouldn’t mind being shorter than average if the world weren’t designed for taller people (with the notable exception of airplane seats). Cropped pants and petite sizes, however, are the greatest thing since sliced bread, and I’m glad they’re becoming easier to find. (I hate finding a great bargain on a pair of jeans and losing the bargain’s impact becuase I have to pay to have them hemmed!)
I wouldn’t mind being 3-6" taller, though, for that reason alone, as long as the extra height weren’t accompanied by a proportionate increase in hip girth. I’d like to have the increase be mostly in leg length. And I HATE it that my 13-year-old half brother is already taller than me and hasn’t even hit his growth spurt yet! (Mom is my height, dad is 6"; guess who I take after?)
I’m 5’ and don’t really mind being that height. Clothes shopping is the only time it ever really bothers me. I have quite long legs for a shorty and so petite trousers are too short and most other trousers are too long. I’ve reached the point where when I next find some jeans that fit me well I’m going to be buying as many as I can afford
I’m 5’2" and OK with my height. I certainly wouldn’t want to be any shorter! I guess I’m just used to it and don’t think about it much.
I had a tall (5’11") female friend that I wish I could show this thread to. She claimed that women shorter than her were all terribly jealous of her height. I never could convince her that I just didn’t care!
I am almost 5’ in shoes and I don’t mind it a bit. I happen to prefer taller partners of either gender. Mr. Jane is over a foot taller than me (6’3") and I like it that way. Apparently he does too. I think shortness imparts a cute, elfish-type quality in certain people. My father always tells me I have a Napoleon complex, and maybe I do to an extent. What I lack in size I make up for in noise.
I’m 5’ and would love to be about 5 or 6 inches taller. I can’t reach anything. I also sometimes feel as if small women are easy targets. I feel like I couldn’t fight back if targeted so I don’t ever make myself available. Other than that I think it is cute. People pick on you. Our hospital cafeteria gives me much smaller portions than the big guys, and that ** really** pisses me off.
I’m 5’8", while one of my girl friends is about 5’1". One day she asked how tall I was. I told her and she replied "Well - you wear it well, you don’t look freakish or anything?!?! "
I’m 5’3" and I wouldn’t change a thing. My ex-husband is 6’1" and the two guys I’ve dated seriously in my life other than him are 5’11" and 6’2". I love being short and petite.
I’m 5’11" barefoot–we’re talking serious moose in even moderate heels–but my absolute best friend, Damon and Pythias, punched in at barely 5’.
We looked like Mutt and Jeff walking down the street. She was tiny in stature but towered in thought, force and presence. Biggest heart–and sternest will and mind like a razor–but fools persisted in patronizing her. They slunk off with bleeding stumps where their leg usta be.
Her main frustations? (Speaking for ya, Sue!) Being dismissed as child-like due to her stature. Not being able to reach things. Clothes that wouldn’t remotely fit or were designed for children. Being engulfed by crowds. Stupid, arrogant twits who decided small stature reflected inner worth.
We both loathed clothes shopping, for ridiculously opposite reasons. Our standing joke was that, averaged out, we’d both somewhat approach “normal”. We both decided “normal” was not only illusive but stupid.
Veb
Who’s been insanely blessed with funny, strong, funky, individual women friends
I’m 5’2". I’m also 17 and have two brothers, 16 and 14. The 16-year old is a foot taller than I am (and is still growing) and the 14-year old is 5’10 (and still growing). I wouldn’t mind being 5’2", except the women in my family run to the curvy side. (Extreme hourglass figures here. My older sister and mother both wear D-cups. I’m heading there.) I think I look top-heavy and hip-heavy and squished in the middle. My best friend is 5’8" and an A-cup. I would love to be taller and smaller chested. All that matters is proportion, really.
For better or worse the perception by tall women is that many men are not enthusastic about dating women taller than themselves if they can help it. If a woman is 5’-10ish or taller this prejudice substantially reduces the pool of available relationship prospects.
I’m 5’ft and I would loooove to be tall.
First of all think of all the clothes I could buy that I could fit properly. As it is now, I have to buy capris and they fit like long jeans. Knee length skirts make me look shorter (though mini’s are okay) and I love knee lengths.
And I could safely be in a crowd without feeling claustrophobic. Imagine all the concerts up close I could see!
Riding in a bus is a bitch too because if there are no seats around and I’m standing, I can barely reach the rails on the top to balance. Instead I’m usually gripping onto the seats, and almost falling flat on my face.
Ooh and I’m sick and tired of being called ‘shorty’ and being patted on the head like some chihuahua dog.
Yes, I’d rather be tall.
As others have said, there are a few disadvantages but growing up I was the best hider in hide and seek. I could find and fit into the smallest places that my friends couldn’t.
Disadvantages include: Grocery shelves (as mentioned) top shelves in cabinets…you can imagine that stuff I rarely use is stored there. Driver’s seats in cars and especially trucks. I can’t stand being close to the wheel so while my ass is closer to the steering wheel, my seat is reclined a bit more than what would be normal for others. When I had my trucks, I got very good at driving with my toes rather than my entire foot; you get very strong toes I tell you driving around highways. Finding clothes can be difficult too. They don’t order a lot of “petite” sizes (oh and a petite can still be a size 12 or a size 16) so finding clothes is hard because we are a forgotten part of society.
There aren’t a lot of advantage to being short because I have never been tall so I am at a loss there.
I wouldn’t trade in my hieght. I am well proportioned, I was always known as “cute” and despite the disadvantages I was born this way and no need to complain about it.
I am 5’11" and if I would be taller if it could choose. If I had to choose between six inches of my height and my right arm I’d have to think about it. What is the matter with these tall women who are unhappy with their height?
My dating prospects are as limited as I make them. There are many short men who have a thing for tall women.
Nortia, have you tried Sass & Bide jeans? I’m not sure whether they’re available in the UK since they’re an Australian label, but their legs are ultra ultra long.
I’m about 5’4 and I’m pretty happy with my height. I wouldn’t mind if a larger proportion of it were leg, but hey, what can you do.
I’m almost 5’2", which is pretty short anyhow, but I’m also proportioned funny so for some reason I look even smaller than other 5’2" people. My best friend is 5’11", and she and I look ridiculous walking down the street together – not that we care, we’re just aware. Hubby is also 5’11" and we simply do not dance much
I used to hate being tiny (having spent a good deal of my childhood being sent by larger cousins to retrieve ping-pong balls from under things) but not only have I gotten used to it, I’ve realized that it’s an asset in many ways. Biggest problem I have is finding affordable, tailored clothes. I wear a Junior size, but clothing for people my age is usually Misses size - thus, it’s hard for me to find nice, plain, tailored black slacks, but if I wanted fringed, flared, low-rise jeans I’d have no problem. Unfortunately, I don’t want those. For some strange reason Misses Petite clothes don’t usually fit me either, and the few times I have found things in the petite section that I like, they’ve been considerably more expensive than the same things in the “regular” misses section.
At 5’9" I 've never been called “cute.”
Re: fewer men in the dating pool for taller women
Maybe the women of astro’s acquaintance had experiences similar to mine with shorter men who would say, “If you were just a little shorter,” and things like that. But you can’t draw conclusions on just a couple of tall ladies’ experiences. All short men do not have self-esteem problems. And maybe the fact that I couldn’t get a date for a while was not because the men were turned off by my height, but because I was not a fun person to be around.
I had a friend in high school who made a point of saying that she was six feet “and a half inch.” :rolleyes: I can see short people insisting on it, but really. You’re six feet tall.
I had a friend in college who was 4’10". Her boyfriend was 6’4". They were quite a sight together. She was very sensitive to jokes or even comments about her height, but one guy did manage to make her laugh. He told her she should sue the city for building the sidewalks so close to her ass.
Tall women and short men: Mr. S and I are only an inch apart, but my legs are much longer proportionally. So if I’m wearing shoes and standing up straight, and he’s barefoot and slouching a bit, that puts his face fairly close to my breasties. Not a bad place to be.
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