Is Heightism a Real Prejudice Or Is It Just Bullying — A Short Person Writes
Stand up and be counted!..Oh, you are standing up
In the UK, we have a BBC programme called QI (short for Quite Interesting) — a panel show that focusses on facts and makes them funny. Years ago, I tuned in with a glass of wine and an apple pie (don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it) and discovered a social prejudice against me I’d never heard of.
It turns out, I’m a potential victim of heightism. I don’t have to admit to this you realise, I’m sat at a computer screen. I could save myself the humiliation by hiding behind my relative anonymity. But no, this issue needs to challenged and championed and I will stand up and be counted! Albeit as a half.
Actually, the word might have been new it wasn’t news to me, nor I daresay to anyone else who’s short. I knew as a phenomenon that it was recognised by psychologists — that short people are treated as infantile and self esteem issues can follow — and boy do I know it. But I was surprised to discover, once I’d read more, the discriminatory aspects, such as pay gaps that can match those of sexism and racism.
Heightism, at least according to the brief bit of blurb I’ve read about it, is more of an acknowledged problem for men although women do suffer too. Short men…
