Most women would trade their height for another height, it seems.
The average American female is 5-4. There are a ton of women who stand 5-1 to 5-3. I think many wish they were taller.
And then on the flip side, there’s a lot of women who stand 5-10 to six feet. Many love being this tall. But there’s a huge camp of very tall women who absolutely hate it.
Next time you see a very tall woman who’s dressed up, check out her shoes; most likely she’ll be in flats.
One very tall woman on a tall women’s forum said that flats make a tall woman look even taller.
And she’s right, because flats convey this message: I am ashamed of my height; I’m trying to hide it. Flats look silly, she pointed out, and show every bit of a tall woman’s large feet.
Look at the posture of very tall women. Many slouch. This won’t fool people. I’m sure you can tell by now that I am critical of very tall women who try to conceal their height.
And why am I so critical? Because I’d LOVE to be six feet! They hate what I want!
But I’m a lot lighter on the short women who’d sell their souls to have a few more inches. We live in a tall-oriented society.
It’s impossible for short women to reach items on the top shelves in the frozen foods section of a supermarket, especially when the product isn’t at the edge of the shelf. Same with the milk section.
Short women can’t reach up there. I can also see how a short woman may feel intimidated if a six-foot man is looming over her with an angry face and booming voice.
We all shrink with age. Short women will eventually get shorter. Thus I can’t blame short women for wearing four-inch heels and piling their hair atop their head.
Don’t get me wrong, though; there are many short women who love their size.
Their dates are almost always a lot taller, keeping alive that fairy tale of the man being “the protector.”
I’m sure that many an athlete, in which short stature is an asset, would never want to be taller (gymnastics, sport climbing, figure skating, dancing, ballet).
But if every U.S. woman were asked, how tall would you wish to be, what would be the most popular choice?
Before I tell you what I think it is, I just want to say this: What I wouldn’t give to be taller myself! I really do want four more inches.
What’s going on inside the heads of very tall women who hate life because they’re as tall as many men?
Now, I think the most popular choice would be 5-8.
This is considered fashionably tall, but not too tall, certainly not so tall as to invite comments and questions (a la “Do you play basketball” and the age-old “How’s the weather up there?”).
Nobody stares and whispers about the 5-8 woman who just came into a room.
Though strangely, I know a 5-8 woman who, during her singles days, didn’t like wearing heels to dance clubs. I thought she was nuts.
Short or even medium height women often long they were 5-8. The regality is there, without the intimidation factor towards insecure men.
And if the 5-8 women feels too tall periodically when wearing three-inch heels, she always knows she’ll shrink three inches next day when she’s wearing sneakers.
The Amazons who hate their height would actually be happy at 5-8, since deep down inside, many of them appreciate the benefits of extra height, and they certainly wouldn’t want to give all of it up, though there do exist six-foot-tall women who’d kill to be 5-3.
A 5-8 height satisfies both worlds; it’s a meeting place, a middle ground. This is how tall I stand. Bet you thought I was short!
But no, I am 5-8, and wish so much that I stood six feet. This doesn’t mean I’m not happy with my natural height. I love it. In fact, I love it so much, I want more!
