Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2019 15:05:35 GMT
I am interested in heightism and didn't Realize it was a thing, I was searching for heightism and grow taller forums, but of course I found many grow taller solutions and not for talking about short shaming. I'm a 5'6" senior in college, and growing up i was always short (10th percentile for age)and knew I was being treated differently but could not word it and did not even know about heightism, and i've only read the literature now. In early grade school I was called small, little, and such and that was when I realized being short was "bad".In middle school and high school I noticed I experienced much more bullying and I couldn't put a finger on it. I don't have specific timestamps, but I have some vague and some instances burned into my mind from being short, Navigating through the school halls was almost insurmountable because of my size. I also was called short by other short but slightly taller peers. It seemed like teachers always kept a close eye on me, I was targeted but had no support in ways such as insults, being given a "name", being percieved as a "weird kid" , and athletic coaches were hostile towards me when we had to perform basic tasks such as flexibility.
Despite kids being seen as a childlike regardless of their size, it seemed like people and even family would laugh at my pastimes, I would get ignored giving an oral presentation. When I had the "spolight" or was called on it seems like any answer was laughed off and any attempt at humor was subtly dismissed. I was severely slighted, such as being called "it" by a girl shorter than me and a taller boy, these kids never gave anyone else this kind of vitriol. Additionally, one girl thought I was "disgusting" and exluded me during group projects, such as not letting me keep score, getting hostile when I made a mistake. Once I sat in her seat, and she sanitized it and said" dont ever do that again". I definitely had my bad habits, socially unacceptably behaviors I would exhibit, but it seemed like with the exception for a few of the nicer "popular" kids, I was either slighted, cast off as unfunny, seen as an oddball by the entirety of my grade, and overall called short to my face, little, dwarf, and all the 9 yards. Something peculiar I noticed was I was always the same height relative to my peers, but my shortness was much more exaggerated in school (especially middle school) and I was insulted a lot more.
I know i may be going off on tangents, but the point is I experienced being ignored, slighted much more than my classmates, shoved , scorn from even other adults (It seems like adults are just as heightist towards short kids as the actual kids are) especially in areas of athleticism, and a very tinted experience for being 3 inches below average for my age. Alluding to my age now, I have not encountered any of this, however I do still get dismissed and shoved in any areas with a sea of people, but I am not that short so I probably don't get the disdain for my shortness that men under 5'5" get as adults. Iplan on becoming a regular here because I am refreshed to see that heightism does exist and these odd experiences and inexplicable hatred was not because of my personality.
Despite kids being seen as a childlike regardless of their size, it seemed like people and even family would laugh at my pastimes, I would get ignored giving an oral presentation. When I had the "spolight" or was called on it seems like any answer was laughed off and any attempt at humor was subtly dismissed. I was severely slighted, such as being called "it" by a girl shorter than me and a taller boy, these kids never gave anyone else this kind of vitriol. Additionally, one girl thought I was "disgusting" and exluded me during group projects, such as not letting me keep score, getting hostile when I made a mistake. Once I sat in her seat, and she sanitized it and said" dont ever do that again". I definitely had my bad habits, socially unacceptably behaviors I would exhibit, but it seemed like with the exception for a few of the nicer "popular" kids, I was either slighted, cast off as unfunny, seen as an oddball by the entirety of my grade, and overall called short to my face, little, dwarf, and all the 9 yards. Something peculiar I noticed was I was always the same height relative to my peers, but my shortness was much more exaggerated in school (especially middle school) and I was insulted a lot more.
I know i may be going off on tangents, but the point is I experienced being ignored, slighted much more than my classmates, shoved , scorn from even other adults (It seems like adults are just as heightist towards short kids as the actual kids are) especially in areas of athleticism, and a very tinted experience for being 3 inches below average for my age. Alluding to my age now, I have not encountered any of this, however I do still get dismissed and shoved in any areas with a sea of people, but I am not that short so I probably don't get the disdain for my shortness that men under 5'5" get as adults. Iplan on becoming a regular here because I am refreshed to see that heightism does exist and these odd experiences and inexplicable hatred was not because of my personality.
