The term, 'heightism' literally sets in a new form of bias against the 'not-so-tall amongst us. Be it business, politics, sports or seeking a date, it looks like 'being tall' does edge a score.
U.S. President Barack Obama at 6'1" is a towering personality and is definitely in line with past American presidents too! First president, George Washington stood tall at 6'2", with Bill Clinton closer at 6'2 ½". Abraham Lincoln at 6'4" edged better than President Jackson at 6'1".
Political studies have re-sounded the tall appeal and observed that during 1904-1984, 80 % of the cases saw the taller candidate being preferred in run up to U.S. presidential elections. However, Napoleon Bonaparte's achievements have by no means taken way his accolades, short or not!
Setting aside business acumen, it has been noted that taller MBA recruits had a greater chance of raking in a starting salary that was 12.4% more than their shorter counterparts. A 2003 joint research by the University of Florida and the University of North Carolina observed that an extra inch in height was equivalent to earning an additional $789 dollars annually!
A 1980 survey has shown that chief executives of America's Fortune 500 companies more or less stood close to six feet or were taller. The study concludes that about 90% of chief executives have above-average heights.
Studies have shown that women favor taller men. The quest for a suitable life-partner or the ideal date too gets bogged down to height. Collective studies in the past have recognized that women are partial to tall men. A study in fact checked on 100 women to rate men based on photographs. Almost all the women found the taller men significantly more attractive.
American sports have been dominated by taller and bigger sportsmen which has pushed athletes with short stature to succumb to the artificial growth hormone panacea. The 'Incredible Hulk' image seems to have belittled all! The abuse of steroids in sports is yet another Pandora's Box which could open up links to being short!
Intervention of medical science by way of Human Growth Hormone (hGH) Treatment for healthy and short children have triggered a booming lifestyle industry that tries to gain from the challenges of societal prejudices against short children.
The 2003 Federal Drug Administration's approval of hGH for making healthy and short children taller is considered medically ethical. But, is it moral to create patients out of healthy kids and inject them with hormones just so, they stay in line with so-called societal norms of tallness charts?
An observation of other professions also showed the dominance of tall people in most walks of life, both educational and socio-economic. Psychologist Timothy Judge from the University of Florida has linked his observations of a tall stature to ancient civilization. Tall people were seen to be more capable of protecting their tribes and were perceived to have better leadership qualities, a thought that seems to have prevailed in the last millennium too!
America's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has legal protection for individuals suffering from dwarfism which is considered a disability in society. But, prejudice against short men legally or socially is yet to be defined by society. This leaves many gaps for stories untold or commissions to be formed for a collective anti-discrimination law. The absence of such legal or social dictum has caused shorter men to succumb to their fates!
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