The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. In principle, it refers to discriminatory treatment against individuals whose height is not within the normal acceptable range of height in a population. Research indicates that the human brain uses height as a measurement to determine social status and fitness. The dating an estonian guy automatically associates physical size with leadership potential, power, strength and intelligence, an effect which has been discovered in infants as young as 10 months old.
The term height bigot was first used on the Mary Tyler Moore episode 7 of season 1 in October 1970. Mary is asked out by a charming, intelligent but very short man. Despite having a good time with him on a date she’s apprehensive about going out with him again because of his height. The term heightism was coined by sociologist Saul Feldman in a paper titled “The presentation of shortness in everyday life—height and heightism in American society: Toward a sociology of stature”, presented at the meeting of the American Sociological Association in 1971.
The term heightism can also be seen as an example of the increase in popular usage of phrases, particularly those relating to prejudice and discrimination, patterned after that of the word sexism. Height discrimination can also come in the form of pejorative slang terms such as manlet for short men, or lanky for tall people. A research paper published in the Journal of Applied Psychology showed that height is strongly related to success for men. It showed that increase in height for men corresponds to increase in income after controlling for other social psychological variables like age and weight. As with all correlations, there may be other factors at work. For example, several epidemiological studies have shown a statistically significant positive correlation between height and intelligence in human populations.
However, this correlation, though statistically significant, is generally weak and does not imply that variations in stature have a direct effect on cognitive ability. Recent findings suggest that height discrimination occurs most often against racial minorities. A 2007 study found that African-Americans reported higher weight and height related discrimination. This discrimination was even higher in female employees. In 2017, attourney and author lawyer Tanya Osensky published Shortchanged: Height Discrimination and Strategies for Social Change. The book exposes the cultural, medical, and occupational issues that short people face, which are often deemed unimportant and disregarded.
Some jobs do require or at least favor tall people, including some manual labor jobs, law enforcement, most professional sports, flight attendants, and fashion modeling. CEOs are of above average height. In 2018, market researcher Seth Ulinski published Amazing Heights: How Short Guys Stand Tall. The book highlights that through technology and an entrepreneurial mindset, members of the “short guy fraternity” are able to blaze their own paths – bypassing potential glass ceilings and pay gaps. Heightism is also a factor in dating preferences. For some people, height is a noteworthy factor in sexual attractiveness.
