August 13, 2012
Many-years-ago, my legendary former supervisor, Dr. Carlfred Broderick, told me that the average height of a male, American college professor was 6’2” – as people had it in their heads that tall white men were innately smarter than anyone else. As my readers know – all 5’8” of me has longed to be much taller for all of my adult life; thinking that taller guys had a much better life – though I-don’t-for-a-second-believe that there is a correlation between height and intelligence.
Hell! I did the 4-inch platform heels and the 3-inch clogs for many of my formative years. I also utilized the 2-and-a-half-inch heels of cowboy boots (along with lifts) to feel about 5’10”. Much to my dismay: I now have knee problems; fallen arches; and, quite a few bone spurs.
But very recently (it was actually the wine tasting weekend) – I found myself the tallest of our party of nine – this being the first time my 5’8” might have been considered “tall.”
Most-of-us-have-heard-of the Napoleonic Complex allegedly suffered by many short men. Indeed, I have seen it played out more than once – by-more-than-one short man (usually 5’6” or less). The Napoleonic Complex sees the short guy trying to over-compensate the perceived deficiencies of being short through bullying; aggressiveness and general nastiness – often making themselves unpleasant to be around…I wonder if this was Gary Newman’s motivation for “Short People”? And from my standpoint, though I’m not extremely short — I wonder if I project this same insecurity into social proceedings populated by tall people.
Granted, much of Hollywood’s A-list is relatively short – supposedly to keep everyone visible in most camera scenes (and this offers some solace for-those-of-us vertically challenged) – but it doesn’t remove the consternation that a taller person views himself as your superior by virtue of his height.
So there I was: taller than all 5 women and the tallest of 4 guys; and, though I didn’t feel superior to anyone — it was nice to “look down” on everyone (for a change)…but I did pick up on hostility from-a-couple-of-the-males who seemed to want to cut me down to their size (or smaller) which is a hallmark of the Napoleonic Complex – particularly after alcohol has been consumed (marijuana on the other hand – seems to make everyone the same size).
And this “cutting down to size” dynamic is precisely what led me into essaying forth on this particular topic. I wonder if I treat taller people differently from shorter folk?
In ye olde men’s room – I have often had unsolicited, negative thoughts about shorter people sharing the urinals with me (like I’m even tall enough to think: short little shit). I have no clue where these nasty and vile thoughts proceed from?! So, am I to think that when significantly taller guys confront me in similar circumstances — that they are thinking the same thing about me? I wouldn’t doubt it.
Ah well, my sons have each reached 5’10” and 2-of-them are headed towards 6’ (which makes me thankful that their mothers were relatively tall women). In fact, a rather attractive female colleague (who is easily 6’) recently remarked that in a different time and place – we could have easily have been naughty together: which contrasted sharply with another 6’ colleague who, many-years-ago, bemoaned the fact that I was so much shorter than she. Very confusing. Being 5’8” is very confusing. But at least I was the tallest for a weekend…that was kinda cool…