Why do some people inform an adult person who is tall of the fact that he or she is tall?

I think tall men are the lucky ones.
My DH is a very small man. Fortunately, he is a very handsome man.
Tall men are wrongly perceived as more intelligent and more authoritative.
I think that being short can be difficult for men, especially when they are younger.

FannyCornforth

No. I’m definitely not having the ‘marginalised’ business!

If a society has merchandise for members and one of the items is a tee-shirt or sweater with a logo on and it is not possible to have versions that fit taller people because manufacturers only make such items in sizes for average height people then that is marginalization.

I read a news item some time ago about how a girl who is tall ad larger was excluded from school for not having the correct type of skirt, which had pleats, because that style was not made in a size that was suitable for her, so her mother had got what she could get, namely a straight grey skirt, much the same colour. The article said where she lived so I wrote to draw the atrtention of her MP to the problem, with a copy to my MP, mentioning that to her MP. I got an instant automated reply from the girl's MPs computer system, but nothing further, though I did not expect to get any response due to parliamentary protocols and privacy - maybe the MP was already aware and maybe tackling the injustice - a letter to the Governors from an MP might well have an effect. I suggested that if a clothing supplier gets a franchise to supply a school uniform then the franchise should include a requirement that if a situation arises where they do not have the size needed then they must make a custom one and supply it at the same price. I did however get a very helpful and constructive reply about the general issue from an assistant to my MP on my MPs behalf.

I consider excluding the girl over that when it was not her fault is shocking.

The pettiness of some schools and their ridiculous rules about uniforms is a different matter entirely.

And it was nothing to do with the girl being tall. She wasn’t
It was her waist / hip ratio that was the issue.
So it could be argued that it’s a feminist issue.

FannyCornforth

I think tall men are the lucky ones.
My DH is a very small man. Fortunately, he is a very handsome man.
Tall men are wrongly perceived as more intelligent and more authoritative.
I think that being short can be difficult for men, especially when they are younger.

> Tall men are wrongly perceived as more intelligent and more authoritative.

Yes, that can sometimes happen.

If the man is no more nor less intelligent than others then that can lead to disappointment as he can become regarded as not having fulfilled what was expected of him, even if it was more than would be expected of someone of average height.

As for being lucky. It depends on why he is tall. Some men are genetically tall yet some men are genetically of average height but have Marfan syndrome which causes them to be tall. So they are not structured for that height and can have lots of problems.

I read somewhere long after I became an adult that a lot of tall people have problems of coordination when they are in their teens because their height is changing so rapidly that their brain is continually having to adapt to perceiving the world around them from a different height and adapting motor reflexes accordingly.

As for seeming more authoritative then that can have its downsides. If a tall man says something he can be stereotyped as bossy, bullying, scary etc and then get marginalised because society often goes with such assessments.

FannyCornforth

And it was nothing to do with the girl being tall. She wasn’t
It was her waist / hip ratio that was the issue.
So it could be argued that it’s a feminist issue.

Perhaps I misunderstood.

I saw one article linked from a news email.

The thing is one does not often know of the outcome. A news feature about an ongoing problem then the media moves onto the next story.

Two of the wittiest people on TV (imo) are Greg Davies and Richard Osman. Both are tall. On Would I Lie to You, host Rob Brydon cannot get through an episode which features them without mentioning their height. It's obvious they both think it's tedious.

One of the most moving novels I have read recently is The Giant's House by Elizabeth McCracken about a young man who grows to eight feet tall.

www.goodreads.com/book/show/136216.The_Giant_s_House

Interestingly, a survey has shown that the public distrust leaders who are chubby/chunky/podgy/fat. They are considered lacking in self discipline.......now who does that remind me of?

So you’re a tall gentleman EP. Nice to see you back again!

I am tall, over 6' and have been tall all my life and get fed up of comments and especially being laughed at. When I was at school, uniforms were difficult especially coats and I can recall one coat not being school colours and getting pulled out in morning line up as an example of what not to wear, my mum came down to see the head and tore her off a strip and it didn't happen again.

What is upsetting is being asked to slump in the chair at the cinema/theatre as the person behind cannot see, well its not my problem is it? I can see just fine

There are a lot of tall people in my family, both male and female. My son is 6’4” and my brothers are both 6’5”. My sister, my sister-in-law, niece and G-niece were/are all 5’10” or more (I’m a short-arse at 5’6!) but I’ve never heard any of them complain of being marginalised.

It’s true that some things are more difficult eg clothing and shoes (son is a size 14) but they manage to stay clothed and shod. I suppose manufactures can’t afford to make a whole load of items for which there’s little demand. If average heights increase, then supply will increase, as we’ve seen with women’s clothing, which now caters for larger sizes than it did 40 years ago.

Not a problem I have encountered

Our SIL is 6.9” the comments are one thing but the stares when he and our 5” daughter get are something else!

He is of athletic build, mixed race and as an ex athlete very strong, he is often refused entry into bars and clubs as door staff think that if he causes trouble he will be too much to handle.

He works between the US and the UK so he manages to buy most of his clothes in America, shoes are a huge problem here as he is a 15.

People assume he is a basketball player, close protection/bodyguard or a rugby player.

It’s usually people over the age of 70 that say stupid things like” bet you ate all your greens”

All my sons are very tall and they hate it when people say 'arent you tall?'

there used to be a range of menswear shops, called high and mighty, for the taller/larger man. good name i thought.
haven't seen them in years, probably ceased trading, like so many esp clothes shops.
and don't remember anything similar for women, except perhaps evans, which was more for larger sizes rather than height.

Long Tall Sally
Dorothy Perkins and Top Shop had a tall range
M&S did too
Yours and Simply Be are plus size shops

Welbeck
We had a Long Tall Sally shop in our town. I see they are now on line

www.longtallsally.com/collections/spring-styles?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiIWXrtH08gIVDuztCh3eeQwxEAAYASAAEgK1zfD_BwE

Was hard to get trousers long enough for him though
Helbel That's why tall lads are nick-named "Shorty" Down Under, ; conversely you get "Lofty"

The shops all seemed to have silly names and sometimes seemed to want to appease average size people passing by the window about such shops existing.

Those Evans shops used to provide bags with Evans Outsize printed on them, which, in my opinion, was rather tactless towards the ladies who were their customers.

I actually got an off-the-peg suit from High and Mighty. A very stylish light grey with a slight fleck in the cloth pattern.

Originally their stuff was quite plain as if tall men were content to look drab. But that changed in the 1980s.

I think because, like other things in life it is a spontaneous comment when surprised by someone or something.

We recently ate at a restaurant where the waiter who came to serve us was at least 6ft 6in and the low ceiling and his thinness made his height more obvious. I confess DH did, look at him with surprise and say, 'Gosh, you are tall'. I thought the same, but didn't say anything. DH wasn't telling him anything, it was more surprise reaction. I did say to him afterwards, that he really shouldn't have said anything and he said, he was aware of that but had been so taken by surprise at the time.

I have shrunk several inches since the menopause and as I am long in the leg, I look minute when sitting down. It takes me by surprise, let alone anyone else! Today I went to the optician and she was commenting on my small head because the sides for my new glasses frame will need to be specially made for them to be short enough.

If you are slightly out of the main stream, people will comment, I cannot say it bothers me even the smallest possible amount. i am as I am.

Young people today are getting taller. My grandson and most of his friends are well over 6ft. The girls too are much taller than when I was a teenager.
The clothes and shoe manufacturers haven't caught up yet. Not many shoes in size 13.
I think comments about being tall will die out soon.

AGAA4

Young people today are getting taller. My grandson and most of his friends are well over 6ft. The girls too are much taller than when I was a teenager.
The clothes and shoe manufacturers haven't caught up yet. Not many shoes in size 13.
I think comments about being tall will die out soon.

I cannot justify this, I am not a clinician, but I suspect that the reason is that to be tall one needs both the genes and the environment in which the genes can thrive. So lack of parents smoking round them, good food, clean air, clean water, good medical care, all have some effect and that people of earlier generations often did not have what later generations did and so did not reach the height that they might have reached.

Grandma70s

It’s basically envy and admiration. People don’t say “Aren’t you small!” because that is seen as an insult.

Oh they do!

ElderlyPerson
When you did go out did you never walk/drive past a school ?
They are giants. My 11 yr old granddaughter is 5’ 3” my 15yr old grandson is 6’ 2”

M0nica

I think because, like other things in life it is a spontaneous comment when surprised by someone or something.

We recently ate at a restaurant where the waiter who came to serve us was at least 6ft 6in and the low ceiling and his thinness made his height more obvious. I confess DH did, look at him with surprise and say, 'Gosh, you are tall'. I thought the same, but didn't say anything. DH wasn't telling him anything, it was more surprise reaction. I did say to him afterwards, that he really shouldn't have said anything and he said, he was aware of that but had been so taken by surprise at the time.

I have shrunk several inches since the menopause and as I am long in the leg, I look minute when sitting down. It takes me by surprise, let alone anyone else! Today I went to the optician and she was commenting on my small head because the sides for my new glasses frame will need to be specially made for them to be short enough.

If you are slightly out of the main stream, people will comment, I cannot say it bothers me even the smallest possible amount. i am as I am.

Ah, comments made about his physical appearance in the workplace.

Ah.