\n<\/p>\n
As dating apps using height filters spark debate on \u201cheightism\u201d, the Blackadder star Tony Robinson has vented his anger at women who feel it is acceptable to comment on men\u2019s height.<\/p>\n
\u201cNowadays, you don\u2019t pick on people\u2019s looks, do you? It\u2019s like kind of a new understanding over the last 10 or 15 years, you don\u2019t deride people for what they look like,\u201d the 5ft 4in actor, 78, told Elizabeth Day\u2019s How to Fail podcast, admitting he had seen his shorter than average height as a problem in life.<\/p>\n
Studies over decades show heightism leads to bias, yet it appears even today to be more socially acceptable than other forms of physical prejudice.<\/p>\n
The term \u201cheightism\u201d was first coined by the sociologist Saul Feldman in 1971. Dr Erin Pritchard, a senior lecturer in sociology and disability studies at Liverpool Hope University, believes much heightism is subconscious, but that it is ingrained. It has also not benefited from widespread acceptance movements.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had the fat acceptance movement, and while there\u2019s still issues, you would never go, \u2018well, how much do you weigh\u2019? But it\u2019s perfectly acceptable for people to go, \u2018how tall are you\u2019?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
It is reinforced through popular culture, \u201cchicken and egg, I suppose. But you\u2019re seeing it in films and in TV shows, jokes about short man syndrome,\u201d she said. \u201cHeight is all about power, isn\u2019t it? It\u2019s quite a powerful thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
And it is present in everyday language. We tell people to \u201cwalk tall\u201d; we \u201clook up to\u201d people; those respected \u201chave stature\u201d; those less so \u201chave shortcomings\u201d or \u201cfall short\u201d.<\/p>\n
The US state of Michigan, the US cities Santa Cruz, San Francisco and New York City, as well as Ontario, Canada and Victoria, Australia, are among the few to address height discrimination in civil rights law.<\/p>\n
An increase in men\u2019s height corresponds to increased income, according to a 2004 study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. The term \u201cheight premium\u201d emerged from another 2004 study, which found an 1.8% increase in men\u2019s wages accompanies every additional inch [2.54cm] of height, and that men\u2019s wages as adults could be linked to their height at age 16.<\/p>\n
Women prefer a larger height difference between themselves and male partners, according to a 2013 study at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, and were most satisfied when their partner was 21cm taller. Men, however, preferred an 8cm difference over female partners.<\/p>\n
There was a lighthearted, body positive movement during the 2022 TikTok \u201cshort king spring\u201d, in praise of short men. But then a 2023 study suggested \u201cshort man syndrome\u201d, often referred to as the Napoleon complex, may lead short men to compensate with antagonistic behaviours.<\/p>\n
The study claims evidence of \u201csuch a complex in those characterised by the dark triad traits of psychopathy (ie, callousness, criminality), narcissism (ie, inflated sense of self, grandiosity), and Machiavellianism (ie pragmatic cynicism, duplicity).\u201d<\/p>\n
However, being too tall also attracts the unwelcome. The 6ft 7in comedian and actor Stephen Merchant has spoken of his weariness at relentless comments. Trying to be funny was a way of taking ownership of standing out. \u201cIf people are going to look at you, they may as well look at you and think what you are doing is good or funny or entertaining rather than just pointing and laughing. I guess I was a nerd and I felt a bit awkward because I was 6ft 7in even from a young age,\u201d he told Radio 4\u2019s Desert Island Discs.<\/p>\n
The actor Geena Davis knocked two inches off her 6ft height to get accepted by modelling agencies in her youth. Miranda Hart, the Call the Midwife star, has said she is fed up with being defined by her 6ft 1in height. Nicole Kidman, at 5ft 11in, used to shave half an inch off to get auditions.<\/p>\n
A study of taller than average female college students found it resulted in unintended intimidation.<\/p>\n
Robert Reich, Bill Clinton\u2019s labor secretary, a Rhodes Scholar, and one of Time magazine\u2019s 10 best cabinet members of the century, is 4ft 11in an issue he publicly addressed in a blogpost.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it comes to choosing leaders, our society is exceptionally heightist and seems to be getting more so. My dear friend and mentor, the late economist John Kenneth Galbraith, was 6ft 8. He once said that favouring the tall was \u2018one of the most blatant and forgiven prejudices in our society\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he added: \u201cI\u2019m fortunate to have grown up (or at least grown upward) in a society that, more and more, values brains over brawn. There are still bullies in the world, of course. But in a civil society, those bullies can be stopped with words and ideas. At least, that\u2019s been my faith. That\u2019s how I\u2019ve tried to compensate for my short height.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prichard said: \u201cWe need more voices like Tony Robinson coming out and saying it, to show this is not all woke nonsense, [to] just sort of sit down and listen to what they have to say and go, OK, these are their lived experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As dating apps using height filters spark debate on \u201cheightism\u201d, the Blackadder star Tony Robinson has vented his anger at women who feel it is acceptable to comment on men\u2019s height. \u201cNowadays, you don\u2019t pick on people\u2019s looks, do you? It\u2019s like kind of a new understanding over the last 10 or 15 years, you<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[7072,8258,8260,1329,641,622,2636,8259],"class_list":{"0":"post-14640","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social-issues","8":"tag-anger","9":"tag-blackadder","10":"tag-heightism","11":"tag-men","12":"tag-robinson","13":"tag-star","14":"tag-tony","15":"tag-vents"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}