Anonymous wrote:I think it trickled down from online dating to adults to kids. Height is one of the things people can filter dating profiles by, so it has taken on an outsize importance. It baffles and annoys me as well.
Anonymous wrote:I’ve actually been noticing online nastiness toward short women lately too. 5’3”/5’4” used to be average. Now suddenly women are calling every woman they don’t like under 5’7” a “stumpy midget”.
I think people are just miserable and it makes them mean.
Anonymous wrote:I am currently 5”7 and I was 5”5 when I graduated HS in ‘95 and I was never bothered by height. I played varsity golf in HS and D1 golf. I married a cheerleader who is 5”7.
Anonymous wrote:Yes. Unfortunately made varsity in his sport as freshman - so drubbing the big guys in their sport of choice has inflicted some of the abuse - but doesn’t explain it all.
Thanks to PP who said parents act like height is an accomplishment. He works really hard in his sport and is pretty solid citizen. But the daily - sounds like hourly on some days - emphasis makes me doubt humanity sometimes. Are we really this primal?
Anonymous wrote:Kids are hitting puberty earlier these days- boys too- which makes late bloomers all the more noticeable. Honestly, I think that is the largest part of this.
My 15yo son is also a very late bloomer and it has been extremely hard on him- so I totally understand where you are coming from. The late bloomers are a really small percentage of boys it seems- I think it used to be a lot more common. Most of the boys we know seemed to hit big growth spurts at 12 and look very much like men at 14-15.
At this age, I honestly don’t see it as being so much about height. There are plenty of more developed boys who are on the shorter side- it isn’t that big of an issue among peers. It is more about the physical maturity piece (and shorter height makes this more noticeable….the immature taller boys blend in better).