i wore heels today for the first time in about two months, so i got to experience life from a few inches up. it also reminded me of an enlightening conversation a friend and i had recently, about childhood height vs. adult height.
there's no nice way to put it - it sucks to be a tall girl growing up. beyond the standard reasons - you're always in the back of the line, and then there are never enough boys to make it to the back of the line, so you're stuck being line partners - and worse, horror, dance partners! - with another girl. you will inevitably have a boyfriend who is shorter than you, prompting you forever more to only fall for guys under 5'11 (or is that just me?) it will be difficult to buy clothing. and you will be mercilessly teased with height related nicknames like 'the 6ft wiener'. oh the lengths the boys went to find something that rhymed with my first name...
but worse than any of that, what my friend and i concluded, are the expectations. we have literally fallen short of what everyone expected from us.
i suppose that when coming into contact with a 5'2 fifth grader all most adults can do is comment and coo over the fact that the girl is going to grow up to be a supermodel. or basketball player. or something equally as exotic. making the child believe, yes! who cares that i suffer at the end of the line behind you short fools. i will someday be making millions on the catwalk. but when you hit your top height midway through high school, and its a mere six inches taller than you were at the age of 10, and its not anything that extraordinary, suddenly you realize all that anticipation was over nothing. sure, you're above average, but you're not going to be rewarded with a WNBA contract anytime soon.
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3 comments:
That "6ft weiner" comment really threw me in for a flashback there. And, yes, this can be like passing notes in 6th grade. I still had that 10 page one for quite awhile. Then my parents moved and made me rid myself of all my childhood possessions. Those bastards!
on the catwalk, yeah on the catwalk, I shake my little tush on the catwalk.
I didn't finish growing until college. There are actual honest studies being conducted into the correlation between the use of flourescent light and its affect on puberty in humans. It has an odd effect on glands in pigeons and may affect humans as well. I am more concerned that light actually penetrates through my hair, skin, skull and brain to get to a gland in the center of my skull.
if only we used the internet back in 1990. i could have totally saved you guys from having to read my textbook-sized notes...
i so needed a little right said fred in my day chuckles. thanks!
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