Small Stereotypes
Height is a characteristic that is mainly control by genetics. From a simple physical trait we make judgments about a person’s personality. A person being small has many negative stereotypes. Farther more, men being small have more negative stereotypes than for a woman being small. Men that are small have to deal with the stereotypes as being less of a man, acting childish, and other negative judgments that small men are associated with that small woman are not. A male being small is considered odd and degrading compare to a woman being small. If a small woman walks many people would not even notice her height. However if a small man walks by many people will notice and have plenty of jokes to talk about. The reason for this is that the average height of a man is taller than the average height of woman. According to the Amanda Onion of ABC News, the average height of a man is 5 foot 9 inches, while the average height of a woman is 5 foot 4 inches. A woman is naturally supposed to be smaller than men. However, if a man is 5’4 or below, there must be something wrong. A small man is considered less than a man because only
…show more content…
woman and children should be small. It is a narrow way at looking at people, but it is something that many people are guilty of. Smaller men also deal with the stereotype of child like behaviors or being a child.
When a male become 40, being short may become an advantage because they may appear younger. However when a man is 21 and assumed to be 15 can be problematic. This is a problem that short woman face as well. No adult wants to be considered a child, but when a person is small, this assumption by others can last for a long time. Another stereotype small man face is assumed to act childish. Maybe the stereotype of small men being funny comes from the incredibly gifted comedians Kevin Hart and Katt Williams. However the assumption that small people cannot be taking serious can affect them in the workplace and in other situations. Although height plays some role in the tone of a person voice, it does not necessarily mean that short people automatically have soft
voices. At a young age, boys that are small are bullied. Small boys are perceived by others as weak and easy to push around. According to Garry Traudeau essay “My Inner Shrimp”, he states “I have the soul of a shrimp. I feel the pain of the diminutive, irrespective of whether they feel it themselves, because my visit to the planet of the teenage midgets was harrowing, humiliating, and extended” (Traudeau 164). Traudeau was bullied as a child for being the third smallest kid in his high school class. Because of his small height, the taller kids group him together with other small kids that were known as midgets. Many other small males have had similar experience to Traudeau. Many small male high school kids have been shoved in lockers and bullied only for having the audacity of being small. Males that are teased because of their short height are more likely to become less self confident and feel more insecure about themselves. Smaller woman usually do not face being bully for being small, as it is usually the other way around as tall woman are bullied for being too tall. This makes it better to be a small woman at times than a tall man. A small male is treated negatively and it starts at a young age. I interviewed one of my closest friends who is 5’4 and ask him about how being small affects his daily life. When I ask him if he is self conscious about his height, he answer by saying “At one time I used to be offended by when people call me small, but as I grew up, I began to care less and less about my height because I knew that I was not going to grow anymore.” Despite the fact that he does not think about his height as much as he used, he said that it still affects his daily life at times. He works as a hotel receptionist, but because of his height, some customers would assume he has something to do with housekeeping. He also told me that just a couple weeks ago he went to the sneaker outlet and an employee told him that if he needed help reaching things just let him know. It amazed me that a person would have the nerve to ask him this and would think it was an appropriate customer service. The last thing I ask him that if it is harder to get a date since he is smaller. He told me that it definitely is, because some women assume he is a child or tell him simply that he is too small. This interview gave me the opportunity to interview a person whom is considered small for being a male and share his experiences. However, the interview is limited to just one person’s personal experience. I also conducted a survey over Facebook which asks heterosexual men and women would they date a person of the opposite sex that they consider short in body height. I asked 30 men and 30 females. Out of the 25 men who I receive answers from, 22 said they would date a short woman. Out of the 14 responses I got for females, only two said they would date a small man. A far greater percent of men said they would date a short woman, than woman that would date short male. As a man, I believe a lot of men had no probably dating a short female because height is not a major characteristic when it comes to determining if we want to date a female. As for females, height is a major point in determining how attractive a man is. Many females do not want to date a male who is shorter than they. The success to this interview was that it allows me to show that height determines the attractiveness of heterosexual males than heterosexual females. The disadvantages of this interview is that more than half of the females I send the question to did not respond , maybe out of fear of judgment or not feeling comfortable. I also did not account for the height of the people I interviewed, which could affect their responses. A man being smaller does not just change how people treat them, but it also changes the amount of money they can make. When it comes to the workplace, men are not the only people affected by height. Woman that are short also make less money than taller woman in the workplace. According Joe Pinsker of The Atlantic, “In Western countries, a jump from the 25th percentile of height to the 75th—about four or five inches—is associated with an increase in salary between 9 and 15 percent” (Pinsker). This related to the leadership roles taller people tend to get compare to shorter people. Taller people are stereotype to have more of a commanding personality and appearance than small people. Many CEOs to Fortune 500 companies are 5 foot 10 inches or taller. Another reason behind this is that certain blue collar jobs demand strength and size. It will be challenging finding an undersized construction worker. A small police officer would not be taking as serious as a tall police officer. This may seem harsh and unfair, but the limit on the type of jobs smaller men or women can make affects the average income of short people. The financial difference between small and tall people is evident in our society when it comes to both sexes. A major issue height can have on a person is their ability to be included in sports. Short people are not ideal to play basketball. Usually football quarterbacks need to be tall as they have stronger arms and can see over offensive lineman. The characteristic of height also as an effect on swimming, as taller swimmer usually swim faster than short people. Proof that size matter in swimming is hat according to Yale Daily News, from 2000 to 2012 the average height of Olympic gold medalist swimmer is 6’4. The ability to play most sports has something to do with height. Although woman play sports just like men, it is more common in society that men play sports. As unfair as it seems, woman can still fit in with others without playing sports at a young age. Males are usually expected to like sports and be able to perform in at least some type of sport. This will lead to shorter males being left out more than shorter woman are left out in society. Body size matters in sports, which affects short men more than short woman. Size is always a characteristic that is debated if it matters. It is clear that size matters. Furthermore, size matters more for men than woman. Height affects the ability for men to find dates. Height affects the ability for men to find jobs. Height affects the self esteem of men. Although this may at times apply to woman as well, women are not affected as much as women are by the shortcoming of height. There should be no doubt that if a man had the choice to be tall or be short, close to everybody would choice being tall.
woman and children should be small. It is a narrow way at looking at people, but it is something that many people are guilty of. Smaller men also deal with the stereotype of child like behaviors or being a child.
When a male become 40, being short may become an advantage because they may appear younger. However when a man is 21 and assumed to be 15 can be problematic. This is a problem that short woman face as well. No adult wants to be considered a child, but when a person is small, this assumption by others can last for a long time. Another stereotype small man face is assumed to act childish. Maybe the stereotype of small men being funny comes from the incredibly gifted comedians Kevin Hart and Katt Williams. However the assumption that small people cannot be taking serious can affect them in the workplace and in other situations. Although height plays some role in the tone of a person voice, it does not necessarily mean that short people automatically have soft
voices. At a young age, boys that are small are bullied. Small boys are perceived by others as weak and easy to push around. According to Garry Traudeau essay “My Inner Shrimp”, he states “I have the soul of a shrimp. I feel the pain of the diminutive, irrespective of whether they feel it themselves, because my visit to the planet of the teenage midgets was harrowing, humiliating, and extended” (Traudeau 164). Traudeau was bullied as a child for being the third smallest kid in his high school class. Because of his small height, the taller kids group him together with other small kids that were known as midgets. Many other small males have had similar experience to Traudeau. Many small male high school kids have been shoved in lockers and bullied only for having the audacity of being small. Males that are teased because of their short height are more likely to become less self confident and feel more insecure about themselves. Smaller woman usually do not face being bully for being small, as it is usually the other way around as tall woman are bullied for being too tall. This makes it better to be a small woman at times than a tall man. A small male is treated negatively and it starts at a young age. I interviewed one of my closest friends who is 5’4 and ask him about how being small affects his daily life. When I ask him if he is self conscious about his height, he answer by saying “At one time I used to be offended by when people call me small, but as I grew up, I began to care less and less about my height because I knew that I was not going to grow anymore.” Despite the fact that he does not think about his height as much as he used, he said that it still affects his daily life at times. He works as a hotel receptionist, but because of his height, some customers would assume he has something to do with housekeeping. He also told me that just a couple weeks ago he went to the sneaker outlet and an employee told him that if he needed help reaching things just let him know. It amazed me that a person would have the nerve to ask him this and would think it was an appropriate customer service. The last thing I ask him that if it is harder to get a date since he is smaller. He told me that it definitely is, because some women assume he is a child or tell him simply that he is too small. This interview gave me the opportunity to interview a person whom is considered small for being a male and share his experiences. However, the interview is limited to just one person’s personal experience. I also conducted a survey over Facebook which asks heterosexual men and women would they date a person of the opposite sex that they consider short in body height. I asked 30 men and 30 females. Out of the 25 men who I receive answers from, 22 said they would date a short woman. Out of the 14 responses I got for females, only two said they would date a small man. A far greater percent of men said they would date a short woman, than woman that would date short male. As a man, I believe a lot of men had no probably dating a short female because height is not a major characteristic when it comes to determining if we want to date a female. As for females, height is a major point in determining how attractive a man is. Many females do not want to date a male who is shorter than they. The success to this interview was that it allows me to show that height determines the attractiveness of heterosexual males than heterosexual females. The disadvantages of this interview is that more than half of the females I send the question to did not respond , maybe out of fear of judgment or not feeling comfortable. I also did not account for the height of the people I interviewed, which could affect their responses. A man being smaller does not just change how people treat them, but it also changes the amount of money they can make. When it comes to the workplace, men are not the only people affected by height. Woman that are short also make less money than taller woman in the workplace. According Joe Pinsker of The Atlantic, “In Western countries, a jump from the 25th percentile of height to the 75th—about four or five inches—is associated with an increase in salary between 9 and 15 percent” (Pinsker). This related to the leadership roles taller people tend to get compare to shorter people. Taller people are stereotype to have more of a commanding personality and appearance than small people. Many CEOs to Fortune 500 companies are 5 foot 10 inches or taller. Another reason behind this is that certain blue collar jobs demand strength and size. It will be challenging finding an undersized construction worker. A small police officer would not be taking as serious as a tall police officer. This may seem harsh and unfair, but the limit on the type of jobs smaller men or women can make affects the average income of short people. The financial difference between small and tall people is evident in our society when it comes to both sexes. A major issue height can have on a person is their ability to be included in sports. Short people are not ideal to play basketball. Usually football quarterbacks need to be tall as they have stronger arms and can see over offensive lineman. The characteristic of height also as an effect on swimming, as taller swimmer usually swim faster than short people. Proof that size matter in swimming is hat according to Yale Daily News, from 2000 to 2012 the average height of Olympic gold medalist swimmer is 6’4. The ability to play most sports has something to do with height. Although woman play sports just like men, it is more common in society that men play sports. As unfair as it seems, woman can still fit in with others without playing sports at a young age. Males are usually expected to like sports and be able to perform in at least some type of sport. This will lead to shorter males being left out more than shorter woman are left out in society. Body size matters in sports, which affects short men more than short woman. Size is always a characteristic that is debated if it matters. It is clear that size matters. Furthermore, size matters more for men than woman. Height affects the ability for men to find dates. Height affects the ability for men to find jobs. Height affects the self esteem of men. Although this may at times apply to woman as well, women are not affected as much as women are by the shortcoming of height. There should be no doubt that if a man had the choice to be tall or be short, close to everybody would choice being tall.