A while back we featured a guest post by Geoffrey Arnold about discrimination against short men. He collects examples of heightism at his blog, The Social Complex, and has agreed to let us feature some of his examples here.
Think heightism doesn’t exist? Think again.
Bridesmaids include “Getting put with an usher who is not shorter than you” among good things in life (at 15secs):
Anne Hathaway takes her shoes off when standing next to a shorter guy (just the first 30secs):
Bravo TV executive Andy Cohen talks about being heckled backstage the 2011 Miss Universe pageant by Miss Montenegro and Miss Sri Lanka (unfortunately the clip ends with the host affirming Cohen that he’s not short instead of just condemning the contestants’ behavior):
Better to be tall: “Why be average, when you can XL”?
Short men are ridiculous and laughable, internationally.
American DirectTV commercial:
Chilean (I think) Doritos commercial:
Korean commercial:
American CRV commercial:
This ad, Arnold observes, actually “uses a statistic about heightism in order to justify and encourage the prejudice itself”:
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 131
Ashton — October 9, 2012
A guy got heckled at a miss universe pageant? Awww, that's so sad for him! /sarcasm.
Try being a woman, where short or tall, you're damned if you do, damned if you don't.
NC73 — October 9, 2012
I am profoundly interested in social stratification issues and concerns around discrimination, but honestly, I will never really buy "heightism" as a thing - and I am a short lady to boot. I just can't wrap my head around this. I'm not saying short people (or, for that matter, really tall people) don't occasionally deal with frustrations and annoyance that more regularly-heighted people don't put up with. Sometimes I think it even goes beyond annoyance - there are plenty of short or really tall people out there that have maybe been rejected romantically because of their height, or lost a job opportunity to a more conventionally attractive candidate. (In some cases, the latter may be justified more than others - for a desk job it would definitely be unfair, but for a firefighter or something, there is logic and reasoning behind height requirements. I don't doubt that it happens in both cases.)
But is that "heightism"? Or is it just another side of the same bullshit body-snarking and impossible beauty standards that pervades our culture? It just doesn't seem extreme enough to warrant an "ism." There is not a history of physical violence against short people or denying short people full human rights or hate crimes against short people.
Anna — October 9, 2012
Or...Convenience Sampling and Sampling Bias In Action. I don't think heightism exists as a social problem/issue (assuming that's what is meant by "exist"), and this post does not provide a compelling argument for it existence.
Mae Spires — October 9, 2012
Wow, there are a lot of depressing and disappointing comments here. Prejudice isn't a zero-sum game. Noting that Group A is marginalized doesn't imply that Group B isn't or that Group B is somehow less marginalized. For the love of all that is good, can we please stop engaging in the Prejudice Olympics? It doesn't help anyone.
myblackfriendsays — October 9, 2012
Geoffrey's blog and this blog are two of the best things I've come across on the internet in quite some time.
Fat news lady promotes obesity and gets tremendous backing - Page 5 - PeachParts Mercedes ShopForum — October 9, 2012
[...] and that the message is if you don't fit the criteria, then you're not attractive? I mean, here's a collection of videos on how short men are supposed to be less attractive. I think that's a standard that's being [...]
may — October 10, 2012
The link to the post on heightism as a gendered prejudice doesn't work.
Gender & Sexuality Reader — November 9, 2015
[…] Heightism in Action […]
Jan Kvapil Jr. — April 1, 2020
Being rejected by women isnt the problem, Heightism is much worse. Short males are twice as likely to commit suicide, most likely due in part to women ostracizing them. See the story of Johnathon Short-Scaff.
For those who dont believe in heightism, how is the suicide rate TWICE AND A HALF as prevalent across the whole country? People, give heart, please, we are asking not for your pity, but for your support.