Short People: The Struggle is Real
Written by Breanna Armstrong, No Bio on Thursday, January 25, 2018
As people, we automatically judge our surroundings. A building color that you may think is too dark, the way a dress falls off someone's shoulders, and most of all, other humans. When you meet someone new, you judge them by the way they dress, act, laugh, smile, etc. However, the one thing people judge for their whole life, regardless of what stage of life they are currently in, is themselves.
Height is one thing that people would like to change. A survey was conducted at SHS asking people whether they'd want to be taller or shorter than the average height. For females, the average height is 5'4 and for males it is 5'10. Out of the 31 males interviewed, 69% wanted to be taller and the other 31% wanted to be shorter. Out of the 27 females interviewed 44% wanted to be short and 46% wanted to be tall. The other 10% of women did not care.
More men want to be taller. The reasoning is that most girls like taller guys, and guys feel mildly pressured to be tall and dominant. When Jonathan Stillwell, a 17-year-old male standing at 5'1", was asked whether his height made it difficult for him to reach his goals, he replied " Yeah, I can't get the ladies." He said there was nothing good about being short to him. However, Morgan Dyer said that a plus to being short is that it is "easy to find clothes."
There may be downsides to being shorter than average. However, it is not all bad. The shortest person in history, Chandra Bahadur Dangi, was only 22 inches tall. He may have been short but he lived until 75. The exact cause of death was not disclosed; many say he had pneumonia. Unlike the tallest person on record, Robert Pershing Wadlow who was 8 feet and 11 inches tall, who died at the age of 22. His death was caused by an infection that was from the blisters his knee braces formed, braces of which he needed to help him walk. In a way, this young man's height was what took his life.
There are downsides to being short, such as not being able to reach things, jokes about being a shoulder rest, and a lot of other stuff. Yet there are many perks that come with being short. For instance, you can sneak through crowds, you can hide in tiny spaces, it is easier to limbo, and you can use tall people as shading devices.
So next time you want to change your height, remember: there is always a positive to every negative.
