NationStates Jolt Archive

This seems to have gone unnoticed in the "How tall are you?"-thread. Height has a real impact on a persons chances in life; taller persons earn more money (studies suggest about $1000 per year per extra inch of height) and they even have a greater chance to find a partner (at least that is true for men).
To quote from one article:
That makes height as important as race or gender as a determinant of wages. And it works for women as well as men. Even among female identical twins (whose heights can differ more than you might expect), the taller sister earns, on average, substantially more than the shorter.

Most Presidents were above the average height, if you are born short your prospects for a carreer are diminished allready.
A Swedish study recently even showed, that short people are receiving less education. Finn Rasmussen at the Karolinska Institute's Department of Public Health Sciences said to that: "It's possible that there is some sort of stigma or discrimination in society ... This is a very large study conducted over a long period of time. After adjusting for IQ and socio-economic group, the relationship is still very strong,"


Maybe we should we introduce quotas to advance people, who are short, to even the playingfield as Barry Harper from London Guildhall Universitys Economic Department suggests: "There is an urgent need for business and government to review their equal opportunities policy to address this issue."
If no quotas, what meassures do you suggest to eliminate this injustice?

Please no anecdotal evidence a la "Oh, I know this guy and he is short and still well off..." or "I know people, who are tall and still poor..."



http://economics.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://slate.msn.com/id/2063439/

http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=2970&date=20060201

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1038531.stm

http://www.shortsupport.org/News/0336.html

Ah, so that's why on average women earn less than men, they're shorter (on average)

Well, if that's true, how come a shortarse like Tom Cruise gets like 20 mill a movie while I'm working my butt off and would have to work 400 years to earn that much on my current wage.
I'm wayyyy taller than that stunted little pug-nosed dwarf.

Well, if that's true, how come a shortarse like Tom Cruise gets like 20 mill a movie while I'm working my butt off and would have to work 400 years to earn that much on my current wage.
I'm wayyyy taller than that stunted little pug-nosed dwarf.He's at the top end of the bell curve. Doesn't mean there isn't a high correlation between height at income, just that it isn't an absolute law.

I'm 5'5... welp I'm screwed.

I'm 5'5... welp I'm screwed.You could try platform shoes, or get you legs lengthened (a painfull procedure, but it's possible).
Or just beat the odds.

Short for Swedes isn't exactly short.

You could try platform shoes, or get you legs lengthened (a painfull procedure, but it's possible).
Or just beat the odds.

Eh, I'll just go with beating the odds. I had enough paintful procedure in my lifetime.

I'm dating a guy who might be a touch shorter than me.

Although he's not really short (maybe slightly below average height for men) I'm just tall.

You could try ...get you legs lengthened (a painfull procedure, but it's possible).i doubt this is practical for most disadvantaged short people and who should pay for it?

as for the rest of the responders, you are either not taking this serious enough and once again: shut up with the anecdotal evidence.

i doubt this is practical for most disadvantaged short people and who should pay for it?It seems to be a very popular procedure in China, even though it takes the savings of the whole family or even help from the entire village to pay for it.
As for how much length it adds, about three inches according to http://www.shortsupport.org/Health/Leg-Lengthening/procedure.html
At least for that particular procedure

It seems to be a very popular procedure in China, even though it takes the savings of the whole family or even help from the entire village to pay for it.
As for how much length it adds, about three inches according to http://www.shortsupport.org/Health/Leg-Lengthening/procedure.html
At least for that particular procedure

I know a girl who needed one leg stretched, shit that looks painful.

This is actually something I've found in myself that I can kind of explain. I'm tall, and of stout build, and when I'm around people who are shorter than I am I feel huge. My husband, even though he weighs less than me, is something like 6 inches taller than me, and that makes me feel short, dainty, petite, feminine...I don't want to be the larger person in a relationship.

I've never been in a boss situation, but I wouldn't be surprised if I noticed height. Maybe that's not cool, but it's honest of me at least.

What I'm saying is that there are many reasons for something like this, but it's still discrimination and I think it's great that studies are being done and attention is being brought to it. I'm against the reverse-decrimination that a quota induces, but eventually someone will figure out a way to make it fair.

Or not, I mean, we are humans after all.

Ah, but don't forget, the free market solves everything and rewards people based upon their merits. Which means that short people must be worth less than tall people. :rolleyes:

This seems to have gone unnoticed in the "How tall are you?"-thread. Height has a real impact on a persons chances in life; taller persons earn more money (studies suggest about $1000 per year per extra inch of height) and they even have a greater chance to find a partner (at least that is true for men).
To quote from one article:
That makes height as important as race or gender as a determinant of wages. And it works for women as well as men. Even among female identical twins (whose heights can differ more than you might expect), the taller sister earns, on average, substantially more than the shorter.

Most Presidents were above the average height, if you are born short your prospects for a carreer are diminished allready.
A Swedish study recently even showed, that short people are receiving less education. Finn Rasmussen at the Karolinska Institute's Department of Public Health Sciences said to that: "It's possible that there is some sort of stigma or discrimination in society ... This is a very large study conducted over a long period of time. After adjusting for IQ and socio-economic group, the relationship is still very strong,"


Maybe we should we introduce quotas to advance people, who are short, to even the playingfield as Barry Harper from London Guildhall Universitys Economic Department suggests: "There is an urgent need for business and government to review their equal opportunities policy to address this issue."
If no quotas, what meassures do you suggest to eliminate this injustice?

Please no anecdotal evidence a la "Oh, I know this guy and he is short and still well off..." or "I know people, who are tall and still poor..."



http://economics.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://slate.msn.com/id/2063439/

http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=2970&date=20060201

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1038531.stm

http://www.shortsupport.org/News/0336.html


Yeah, well, serves them right for not growing, the stunted little dwarfs.

curses.. this thread isn't about penises

As a short person (5'4"), I'd have to say... give me a break.

The last thing we need is someone telling us "hey, you got that job because you're a short person!!" ;) In all seriousness though, there's no real 'tension' in society to introduce any sort of quota system for something like this. Its not like short people need to be integrated into society or something. I don't recall any video's of short people being beat on by the LAPD and short people riots in the streets.

Although that would be cool.

I think the solution for short people isn't to try to get taller, but to be more forceful.

I had a friend in college who was 5 feet, 1 1/2 inches, (she always included the half) and I had a friend who was 5 feet 11 inches. The shorter friend was the sort of person who would always get her way and manage to get people to see things her way. She wasn't extravagant, exceptionally good-looking or over-the-top at all, but people never knew what hit them. The taller friend was the sort of person who would try to work within the system, but never quite managed to get things to work out for her. She wasn't really remarkable either, but she never really figured out how to get the world to work for her.

I think it's mostly a matter of short peoples' perceptions of themsleves, as much as other people's perceptions of them.

hehe, I'm 6'3" and still only 15. got a few more inches to go yet :D