In the video below, borrowed from Geoffrey Arnold’s blog on heightism, people on the street in New York are asked to evaluate the likely occupational and class status of two men: one short, one tall. The results are striking (if also edited and non-random, but still):
See also Arnold’s guest posts introducing the concept of heightism as a gendered prejudice and discussing heightism (and other icky stuff) at Hooters.
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 33
Kim — December 20, 2011
I'd be very interested to see the questions they used. The people, regardless of the height of the man, seemed to be giving surprisingly specific answers. Not simply "I think he'd do well/poorly in business", but "he looks unhappy" or "he probably works as a doctor/makes this much money".
Roger Braun — December 20, 2011
"The results are striking (if also edited and non-random, but still)"
I don't think you can wash away these problems with just a "but still".
Guest — December 20, 2011
The last link ("heightism as gendered prejudice") doesn't work. Thanks!
WG — December 20, 2011
Good post. I've personally experienced this type of discrimination, and it has lead to losing 3 different jobs. The pervasive and extensive discrimination of short statured people is multi-dimensional (economic, social, political, etc.). It's time the harsh treatment of shorter people is brought to light and eliminated.
Sarah — December 20, 2011
I never knew about heightism until I had a male friend, who was about my height (I am female) tell me: "What do women say they want when they are looking for a boyfriend? They always say 'funny, smart, and TALL,' or 'Tall, dark and handsome.' " I had always experienced the opposite - feeling awkward or giant as a tall female, and never thought of it from a man's perspective. Interesting, and awful all around.
Anonymous — December 20, 2011
tisk tisk tisk.. never judge a book by it's cover.. I've had the most fabulou$ time$ with two men under 5'10 (i'm 5'6)
and my ex boyfriend who struggled the most financially . older than I by many years, that I was helping out at times.. me, a broke college student myself.. was 6'4.. sure, he seemed attractive when we met. But society has a way of sometimes turning people with the most coveted traits into total snobs. Their egos are always fed.
NiceLady — December 21, 2011
The people in the video are so rude to the shorter guy, their attitudes say more than their actual answers.
Al — December 26, 2011
wow. my ex is about my height (5'4'') and he definitely deals with a lot of stupid crap for it. i didn't realize people would think quite so little of short folks. maybe 10 formative years with a short man changed my perspectives, but dating men taller than me now is kind of bizarre. i feel like if you asked me on the street what that tall guy did, i'd say farmer or lumberjack. not that that's ok, but that's the sort of impression i'd get.
Hotkeys123 — January 30, 2012
I am short and black, and I find heightism to be a much bigger issue than racism these days...