Posted by Noa on January 16, 2002, at 18:49:48
In reply to Re: height and weight, posted by Greg A. on January 16, 2002, at 18:04:08
The others have said some of what I was thinking. While 5'7" is tall, it is not unusually so at all. In my mother's generation, yes (she's 75). In my generation (40's), 5'7" was considered tall, but not very tall. Nowadays, there are so many young women who are much taller than that that 5'7" seems not very tall at all.
I really don't think the weight thing would make a difference. You are not heavy anyway.
What kinds of messages did you get growing up about your height? How tall is/was your mother? Any other females in the family? What about males?
I am the shortest in my family (or was, as my mom has shrunk a whole lot due to osteoporosis). I'm under 5'3", while my mom was 5'7" and my sister is 5'6". My two brothers are over 6' tall. I always felt like the shrimp and would wish to be taller. If only to not need help reaching high things, or to be able to keep up when we were walking (my brother and I once measured our gaits by counting steps for a measured distance--I had to take two steps for his one). I was always taking running steps to catch up to everyone! (How's that for a metaphor?!)
I agree--maybe in that little boy's world, the women are short. Maybe height awareness is where he was developmentally on that particular day--suddenly cognitively ready to notice who is tall and who is short. Like when kids suddenly realize that people have different religions or races and go around pointing out the differences in sometimes embarrassing ways (for the parents). Maybe you just happened to intersect with his world when he was in that moment of his newfound awareness of height differences among adults.
The real issue, I think, is that you aren't comfortable with how you fit in. Maybe a trip to Scandinavia would help??? But seriously, how we see ourselves is the key and that can change with help.
poster:Noa
thread:16844
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20020112/msgs/16859.html