Tall Girl Syndrome: The View from Up Here

When you're tall people tend to assume certain things about you, for better or worse. "Are you a basketball player?", "How's the weather up there?", and requests to reach things on high shelves are frequent conversation starters. Confidence, competency, and maturity are the more positive stereotypes attributed to us "giants". Some of the less pleasant stereotypes for tall chicks include being seen as manly, awkward, and arrogant among other things. Don't believe me? Try walking in my heels for a few days.
I've been called a giraffe, a giant, a ginormous and everything else in between. These were the choice words of the kids I went to elementary school with. By the time I reached 6th grade I was 5'7-easily over 1/2 a foot taller than most of my classmates. Because of their almost ceaseless taunting I developed an intense awareness of my size in relation to others. I felt different, and the bullies never missed an opportunity to rub this insecurity in my face.

Sixth grade was about the time the girls in my class became concerned with their weight. Since many of my best friends were around 5 ft tall there was no way in hell I could ever hope to keep up with those numbers on the scale they bragged about. I soon discovered the misery of lunch time calorie counting and weigh-ins. In my school the cafeteria was located in the gym which meant scales were distressingly nearby. Additionally, I was in my seventh year of ballet training I was pretty much physically incapable of slouching to hide my height, not that it would have helped much. Despite being a ballet dancer, in the context of my classmates I felt larger, manly, and exceedingly awkward. I started restricting my diet and counting calories just as obsessively as my petite friends in an effort to be more like them and fit in.

I never had a "boyfriend" growing up, not even the fake variety that come around in elementary school. In all honesty I didn't even get my first kiss until I was 16. Luckily for me it was one of the single most poetic moments of my life. Midnight in South Africa on a lovely Cape Town beach, I had finally found someone who seemed genuinely interested in kissing me. We walked along the water's edge what for seemed like hours holding hands and intermittently stopping to lose ourselves in furtive making out. I fell head over heels for this guy. He was the first boy who had ever shown any interest in me. The most attention I'd ever gotten from boys before this was when the older guys at my middle school would throw plastic forks and hot dog buns at the back of my head during lunch, trying to see who had the best aim. Once I was back in the states, however, the memory of that first kiss and that month in South Africa began to fade from my memory.

The first guy I actually dated, the Southern shorty, was 5'5 when I was 5'9 my junior year of high school. Dating someone shorter than you takes a lot of confidence for both people involved when the girl is taller. I think that's ultimately a big part of why we broke up, self confidence that is.. not necessarily the height issue. The Southern shorty was convinced that I could do better than him, and told me that so often that I eventually believed it. It only took me a year to see that.

After dating the Southern shorty I ruled out all guys under 5'10. Lately though I've been wondering if I need to rethink that. I feel like I've made some progress in dealing with my height based insecurities. Finally I just had to decide to stop caring about what other people think. Heels are my favorite part of every outfit and I make no apologies for that. I actually like the way I am now. Sure it's a little annoying to see people smirk as I strut down the sidewalk in 4 inch heels next to a man who would clearly still be shorter than me even if I cut my feet off, but I'm really starting to think that sticking to the basketball player height group may be severely limiting my dating pool. I think it might actually be time to reconsider dating shorter men.

These are some of my favorite tall chick/short guy couples of all time. What are your thoughts on this readers? How do you feel about taller girls dating shorter guys? Have you ever dated a shorty?