I’ve spent a good hour or so this VERY windy evening reading some quotes from tall women on what is rapidly becoming one of my favourite sites http://www.tallwomen.org/quotes/. I found it really interesting to find other people’s perspectives on height, from the extremely positive (wear heels, embrace your height!) to the very very negative. The quotes are from women of various ages – including teenage girls struggling with being tall. I can definitely remember those days. One issue popped out to me over and over and over in these posts – the relationship between height and weight.
When I was a teenager and growing pretty rapidly I was very thin. So thin that people frequently asked me if I was anorexic or bulimic or if I’d eaten lunch that day. They would comment on how skinny I was (I HATE the word skinny for the record) and generally make me feel pretty bad in usually an unintentional way. It was always strange to me that people felt so free to make those types of comments. It ended up bothering me so much that I went to a dietician to find out how to gain weight. She was surprised – telling me she didn’t have many clients come in with that request. Haha. Anyway, she gave me a list of things to eat that might help me pack on an extra few pounds. I followed her plan and didn’t gain a pound. But of course I kept getting taller. Needless to say I was none too happy with this situation. I was thinking something along the lines of “if I have to be so tall, can’t I at least be a normal weight??”
Now about ten years past this point I’ve been able to gain weight and am comfortable where I am. I no longer have people asking me about eating disorders… though I have had a couple of strange comments about my weight. Generally it happens when someone tells me I’m tall, I say “oh yes, I am” or something and maybe look embarrassed or upset or something because they feel compelled to follow up with “but it’s ok because you are thin!” I always want to ask them to explain that logic. I think the next time someone does I will. And then I’ll write a blog about it.
One of my very wise tall friends had some comments on this:
Those adolescent years were pretty annoying as a tall girl. However, during that time, any time I would mention my frustration with my height to anyone shorter than me, they would say something like “oh, but you’re so tall like a model! I wish I was tall.”
BULLSHIT! Yes, the women on TV and in print ads are tall, but I feel that there’s a whole double-standard when it comes to feminine beauty. Women in the media are praised for being tall and statuesque, but it doesn’t seem to extend into the everyday. Just think about the adjectives that come to mind when you think of “femininity”: words like petite, dainty, delicate…not words like lanky or towering. To be fair, I don’t think that short women have it so great either – the women that I know that are paid most attention to are average height.
I honestly believe it’s a feminist issue. There are countless books that have been written on the topic of why men are allowed to be tall, fat and successful but women are really pushing it if they’re either tall or fat. The idea of being both is like career suicide unless you’re in an industry that is dominated by women. I’ve read a few analyses that chalk it all up to women not being allowed to take up as much space in society as men – literally. Or it could just be as simple as men not liking being made to feel small.
Like I said before, my friend is wise 
She raises an excellent point about height and weight – particularly when combined.
To any tall teenager currently struggling with the same thing I did a decade back, all I can say is you’ll likely get more proportionate once you stop growing. I know that doesn’t help right now, but hopefully it is a little light at the end of the tunnel. And please, don’t waste your money on a dietician.
