Tall Girl Struggles

When you hear the word “feminine”, you picture a delicate, curvy and petite woman with flourishing hair. Rarely do you imagine a female above 5’8” with long legs and possibly slouched shoulders. It may not seem fair, but society has. Perhaps this is because the average woman in the country is about 5’4”, or because the media has over-sensationalized the petite woman –
making her the status quo for femininity.

Sure, tall girls have the advantage of being the preferred for fashion modeling jobs…but besides that and perhaps the unplanned advantage of having fresher air in crowded places (they stand taller than others and as such, breathe in air from a different stratosphere), there really are not many perks to being a tall girl. Here are 10 of many struggles that are only too real for tall girls:

People constantly ask you to reach for things
“Hi, your hair is pretty. Could please help me with on box of Rice Krispies on the top shelf?” “Hey honey, could you please change the bulbs, I can’t find the ladder.” Your short friends will always ask you to reach stuff for them. People, especially at the grocery stores, constantly ask you to help them reach for things that they probably would need a chair or ladder to get to. It doesn’t matter if they know you or you feel comfortable about doing what they asked. You are tall and your height was given for the sole purpose of saving the shorter ones from undue stress whether you want to or not.

The persisting neck pain
You are really taller than most of your girlfriends and some of the male ones too, so you find yourself bending and literally looking down to them when you want to make a conversation as that the only way you really hear what they are saying. It would not be a problem really except for the neck cramps you have to suffer as a result. Your neck hurts most of the time but you can’t do anything, except maybe massage it once in a while. The fact that your body chose to stretch itself to its height does not mean you should segregate and only talk to people on eye level.

Hugging people can be spectacular
Most times you have people’s face in your boobs, all in the name of hugging. Other times you have to squat and bring yourself down to the level where the hug will make sense as per shoulder to shoulder. You end up giving more of side hugs than full bear hugs. Less awkward.

People asking if you are a model
Yes, I’m over 5’ 8” and I am not a model. In fact, I am not even remotely interested in fashion. Can we please move on? It becomes rather irritating when you have people constantly asking if you are a model just because you are “rather tall” and have long legs. Tall girls have other talents and passions that do not necessitate a strut on the runway.

You cannot wear high heels and be happy
You get anxious when wearing high heels, because it makes you stand out (really loudly too) amongst your friends and all eyes are on you. Your friends who are shorter do not even make things better with comments like: “As tall as you are, you still wore high heels!” You would ignore their judging comments and be more confident if you did not have to deal with the added struggle of being clumsy in heels, considering you don’t wear them a lot and have had little practice with them.

You Never Have Enough Space for Your Legs
You love traveling, but you can’t do it as much as you would love to, because you never have enough space for your legs to stay comfortable whether in airplanes or in cars. In fact, your legs get cramped at the cinema, at your office desk, at restaurants or anywhere really. You do not kick up a fuss about it anymore as you realized it’s a condition you will have to manage for the rest of your life – or at least until you get older and start shrinking.

Getting your head cut off in pictures
You don’t get excited about taking pictures with your shorter friends anymore, as you almost always have some part of your face or your whole head cut off. The only time you fit in the picture is when you are the one taking it, and still, you have to position your hands at a certain angle so the picture does not look weird. Then you do the awkward knee bend or even squat. The stress takes the joy out of it.

Difficult to find a taller man
The selection of men in your height range is limited; you are taller than most adult men in your city. Even when you try online dating apps, you find yourself battling with the disappointment that rolls through you each time they drop the number 5 in a conversation. You desperately wish for a man who is at least 6 feet, but it seems like it will forever remain a fantasy.

The short girls who have more options at their disposal seem to have talons dug deep in the arms of taller men. Why can’t they just leave the very tall men for the taller girls? Who are they leaving the shorter (who always feel emasculated by taller women) men for?

You can’t tell when it’s a dress or a top
You tend to find most of your tops and blouses at the dress section. Items in the top/blouse section, even when they are marked as ‘tall’, never fit. These tops you find in the dress sections, however, are the only ones you can wear… but you are a still a bit hesitant. You think of the number of times you have run into other women wearing the same design – but without a bottom…making you look like the weirdo who wears trousers or skirts under a dress. Most of the time, you have to custom-make your own dresses as most dresses expose your legs way too much. Even the ones you buy from the maxi section looks more like a Midi on you.

Your shoe size is almost always sold out
Tall girl is often synonymous with long feet. You have problems finding your shoe sizes, as size 9 and above are usually limited at the stores. You find yourself wearing the same shoes over and ove. You can’t keep up with shoe trends as it is rather too stressful tracking down your size.

Photo Credit: Dreamstime | Horst Petzold