Medical Condition called Heightism: Yeah, It Does Exist!

Heightism is about prejudice against people due to their Height

This is not about the fear of heights or the diseases of being preoccupied with your height. I happened to chance upon a blog called the DailyDot and it turns out that Heightism is now a real community that seeks to connect people who regularly face criticism (veiled or obvious) due to their limited altitude. Heightism also isn’t about dwarfs. This is about discriminating those who don't seem tall "enough" where one school of thought believes that among men, Heightism is perpetrated by women.

Call it Height Shaming

It is about people who are a few inches short of what is considered an impressive or good height. For the US, the average male height across US can range from being 6’2 to just a few inches over 5 feet. The idea here is to connect people who have faced bias at workplaces, personal lives and everyday situations like interviews or waiting in queues as they are not of the “usual” height.

Understanding Strangeness of Heightism: another type of body shaming?

To me, the idea seems sensible. Heightism might be a strange word for this kind of social awareness but it is sensible in many ways. This seems to exist all around us but when it reaches a level that the thought and interpretations become profoundly obsessive and start affecting the daily, quality of life, this is when this becomes a behavioral or mental health issue. The stares or the discrimination that is quiet, mostly visual, can make the sufferers feel uncomfortable, lowering their ability to socialize. Today, when we have online communities for every thing, including alternate lifestyles, and exclusive dating platforms for people with STDs, then why not community support for Heightism? What do you think? During my school days, I had one classmate called Rishi, who was seriously vertically-challenged but I don't recall anyone of my friends or fellow students during middle or high school look down upon him. However, this can be purely coincidental since children are known to be cruel, unintentionally and with extreme regularity!

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