If your son is shorter than average, how did you help him build confidence?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about we as a society stop measuring men’s worth based on their height, penis size and earning power???

Yes, they are the gender most affected by society’s judgment of their physical attributes, after all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about we as a society stop measuring men’s worth based on their height, penis size and earning power???

Completely in agreement with you. But us deciding to do this as individuals now doesn't mean that our sons won't be judged based on characteristics like height and earning power by others. It takes time for society to change, and in the meantime, we have to prepare our sons to succeed in the world as it is.

[Anonymous]

I am a 5'6" man in my mid 30s and never felt all that held back by my height. Then again, I also have a lot of body hair, am bald, wear glasses, and am Jewish. So not a lot of things going for me from the typical perspective of many posters on this forum.

I'm married with two kids, earn a good living, and have a good life. Being short isn't so bad!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about we as a society stop measuring men’s worth based on their height, penis size and earning power???

Yes, they are the gender most affected by society’s judgment of their physical attributes, after all.

Yeah, women can't understand what it's like to be judged based on looks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a 5'6" man in my mid 30s and never felt all that held back by my height. Then again, I also have a lot of body hair, am bald, wear glasses, and am Jewish. So not a lot of things going for me from the typical perspective of many posters on this forum.

I'm married with two kids, earn a good living, and have a good life. Being short isn't so bad!

I also learned from DCUM that wearing glasses is a disability equivalent to being a paraplegic and can only be attributed to too much screen time. I also learned on DCUM that cancer and diabetes are totally preventable if you just have a healthy lifestyle! or

[Anonymous]

My son doesn't give a fxk if he's short because that has never been a measure of his worth within our family. He's kind, extremely bright, talented and thoughtful. Oh and he's handsome too. He sees this as more detrimental than something to crow about however.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 14-year old was 5’1-5’2”” most of last year. He is now 5’9” turns 15 next week. He still has a lot of growing- no facial hair. He was one of the shorter kids on his team last year and in school.

His younger brother is even shorter for his age.

My brother and I both grew in college. We are definitely late growers.

5’7” is not too short. He will be fine! The average American woman is now 5’3”-5’4”.

Thanks. My son turns 15 in three weeks and he is 5”4

My son is 15 and 3 months, and he is not even quite 5'4. But, he hasn't hit puberty yet. The only visible sign is his leg hairs are getting thicker. Delayed puberty runs in the family on both sides. His dad is tall, but I'm super short.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about we as a society stop measuring men’s worth based on their height, penis size and earning power???

Completely in agreement with you. But us deciding to do this as individuals now doesn't mean that our sons won't be judged based on characteristics like height and earning power by others. It takes time for society to change, and in the meantime, we have to prepare our sons to succeed in the world as it is.

Of course but we still need to move towards this while dealing with our own current situations. I’m saying this will be perpetual if we don’t all adjust. As a mom of boys I don’t want to raise boys who grow to be me. Who are bros and contribute to masculinity i this country. I hate it and I’m sad that my sons will need to fight against being that in America. We only recognize one type of man as a man and it’s ridiculous

To the other posters who responded to me sarcastically by mentioning women, like I said, I’m a woman with sons. As a woman my first value in our society is physical. Absolutely know that but that doesn’t mean we accept this for our daughters or our sons. I said this on this thread where we are talking about boys I particular. Not because I don’t know that my worth as a woman in this society is predicated on my looks, body etc.

[Anonymous]

^grow to be men (not me).

[Anonymous]

My son never minded being shorter than his friends. He was never ashamed of his height. Then in 11th grade he shot up to 5'11".

[Anonymous]

What you can do, as a parent, is help guide him to take advantage of the talents and abilities that he has now, and will have in the future.

No - if neither your or his father’s family have much gene pool history to suspect late and large growth spurts - NBA center is likely out. But, in high school, there are many opportunities for a smaller kid to play and do well in lots of activities. My youngest is the shortest of our boys - about 5’7”. He really focused on music in high school and his band cut their first album this summer. (They might sell as many as 50 copies. I think everyone in my family is getting one). His college app resumes were full of stuff that would mostly make any parent happy (still not sure about the cliff jumping medley). In short, it really is not a big deal.

[Anonymous]

We try to encourage our son to be in shape & clean cut... but he doesn’t listen.

I’m not going to lie, I usually don’t think short men are attractive. And I *definitely* don’t think sloppy short men are attractive. A short man can be very handsome if his appearance is on point.

Also try to remind him how short Messi is when talking about soccer.

[Anonymous]

Just make sure he doesn’t end up with a napoleon complex. Brother in law has one, his attitude is what makes me want to push him off a cliff. Or his height.

[Anonymous]

The guy who plays the main character in Mozart in the Jungle is short and he is not suffering in the least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What you can do, as a parent, is help guide him to take advantage of the talents and abilities that he has now, and will have in the future.

No - if neither your or his father’s family have much gene pool history to suspect late and large growth spurts - NBA center is likely out. But, in high school, there are many opportunities for a smaller kid to play and do well in lots of activities. My youngest is the shortest of our boys - about 5’7”. He really focused on music in high school and his band cut their first album this summer. (They might sell as many as 50 copies. I think everyone in my family is getting one). His college app resumes were full of stuff that would mostly make any parent happy (still not sure about the cliff jumping medley). In short, it really is not a big deal.

NP. That is such a cool idea! I wish him the best of luck.