To think being short is mostly rubbish!

[SillySausageSandwich]

For context…. I’m 4ft 11. And it’s rubbish! Here is why -

• Food! I can only eat about 1500-1700 a day. I exercise a lot, I try to be healthy but a couple of biscuits and boom, I’m a fatty!
• Food no.2..eating out.. If I have a main meal then a pudding it can be more than my daily allowance.
• Gaining weight! One tiny bit of weight and I’m a fatty. And it’s far easier to gain then loose!
• Alcohol - I just can’t handle it. I’m a ‘cheap date’ but who wants to be drunk on one glass of wine!!
• Cloths - they just don’t fit! At 14 I got a sewing machine so I could take up all my jeans but often it’s not just the length. The curves and shape just doesn’t fit!
• Cloths no.2 - short person, little feet! I used to be a size 3, now most size 3 are too big! And 2.5 are less common.
• Respect.Im an adult, a full on grown up but I constantly feel younger than I am because often feel like people treat me that way. I’m sure there is a statistic about career success and hight/earnings (tall people do better)
• Running! A 5k for me is a LOT longer than a 5k for someone with longer legs!!
• Supermarkets - why put things so high up!!
• People thinking I’m ‘cute’ if I was me, but taller, I wouldn’t be cute.
• concerts - I can’t see. Any group of people and I’m stuck looking at people’s backs.
• nose in armpits on busy public transport.

Im sure there are more!!

I also suspect being taller than average is equally rubbish - public transport seats, cloths not long enough etc (but could eat soooo much food!!)

Another shortie here - 5ft in my socks.
My main issues are supermarket shelves and clothes. Everything I seem to want at the supermarket is at a shelf height that is difficult for me to reach. I get sick of having to ask taller people to reach things down for me. It makes me feel like a child.
And clothes, why is everything so bloody long?? Dresses and skirts are always dragging on the floor, and don't get me started on sleeve lengths. I usually have to buy tops and jumpers with three-quarter sleeves, which are pretty much full length on me. Most full length tops require the arm length of a gorilla. My knuckles would be scraping on the ground.
I know petite ranges are available, but the choices are very limited and the things I like never seem to be in the petite size.

Also short - positive - we can wear some kids clothes and shoes which are cheaper! 🎉 Concerts suck though.

Oh and another thing, my Mum was 5ft 1.5 (that 0.5 was very important to her).

She is now way smaller than me - the shrinkage as you age is real!

Yes I think you're right. I never cared about what height any boyfriend was and my husband now is not especially tall (5'7")
I don't understand women who are so specific about men's height when it would be seen as rude for a guy to dismiss any women for theirs. It's not something any of us are in control of any more than we are skin colour, natural eye colour or natural hair colour. Ok to have a preference of course but outright excluding isn't right.

I'm 5 foot 3 and know lots of women smaller than me? I get comments that surprise me as i dont think im tiny and even if I was nothing can be done about it.

Oh yes to the kitchen counters being the wrong height! We DIY'd our little galley kitchen and I had one of the counters put at table height (no room for a table) and it's so much easier for me. Cake mixing was a revelation when I didn't have to reach my arm up and over the edge of the bowl.

Being short isn't great professionally. I'm in a male dominated profession and when ad hoc stand up meetings happen that I want to be part of I have to really push myself into them and force people to direct attention downwards as well as across. Networking at conferences is harder as well when you can't see beyond the immediate wall of backs in front of you to sus who else is around.

I'm 5ft, but sadly don't have the small feet thing - I have stupid size 7 feet which makes me look like I'm auditioning to be a clown if I don't chose my shoes very carefully.

The seatbelt thing is one of my biggest day to day annoyances because unless I can get it to sit between my boobs (depending on bra) then it's trying to strangle me. Driving in my sports bra is impossible...which means awkward changing if I want to run anywhere not within 3 miles of home.

The seat thing is the other big day to day annoyance. Yes I never struggle for leg space, but having your legs dangle for long periods of time is painful. The alternative of perching right on the edge of the seat does no favours for my back either.

Being short sucks. My very tall friend (6ft 2in) and I have utter sympathy for the polar opposite problems that we have. We've joked many a time that if we could share out the difference in our heights life would be far more straightforward!

5 foot 3 isn't really that short. There is a big difference between being 4 foot something and 5 foot 3.

Sorry to hear about your dad!

I wouldn't like being that tall either! 🤷‍♀️ 5 foot nothing here, and I agree with much that's been written. I'm early 50s, post menopause, and I've managed to get my weight down to 8 stone, but I have to eat eff all to keep it at that. I also have mobility difficulties - I walk with a stick - so it's not like I can exercise easily.

Due to being so short, I've always been a front row fiend at gigs, since I started going to them, aged thirteen (none of that "no under 14s in the standing area" malarkey in the 80s). I'll queue for hours to get on the front. It also helps to have a barrier or stage to lean on or against when my leg gets particularly tired. Last few gigs have been to see my favourite singer, who's only about 5' 6" himself. 😅 I find there's often a gaggle of us fellow shorties huddled at the front - one gig there was a woman who was only about 4' 9" lingering two or three rows back before the start, until we ushered her to the middle of the very front.

Clothing wise I think I do okay. I tend to wear either tops and leggings or skirts or dresses, either from petite sections, or I'll check what actual the length is then use a tape measure on myself so I know it won't be too long, before I order anything.

Because of my mobility problems I prefer to do most of my shopping online, so shelf reaching isn't an issue for me. I always disliked shopping anyway.

DH is 5' 8", which is plenty tall enough for me; wouldn't want some lanky git sprawling all over the bed, forcing me half off the edge. We both fit quite comfortably in a double bed, although it can get a bit squashed if our whippet decides to join us, but she usually sleeps on her bed underneath the desk in our bedroom.

Needless to say, I always have to use a step ladder to reach stuff in top cupboards in the kitchen.

Of course all three of my kids are taller than me, even though they're only from 5'2" and 5'4" themselves.

I think there are pros and cons to being very short or very tall. But there's eff all you can do about it either way, just gotta get on with it! 🤷‍♀️

I get comments at 5 foot 3 so people smaller must really get it. Some people are knobheads though when it comes to other people's looks.

It's average height for women in the UK apparently. It's not that short at all.

5ft 3 is the average height of a UK woman I believe. I do think the average will change soon though! People are getting taller I'm sure.

Yeah I know alot of women aged 30s to 60s who are smaller than me. The students we get in work who are 20s are defo not !!

I'm sorry, but your photo made laugh! 😅 5'0" myself. I think the people who lived in our house before us mustn't have been particularly tall themselves, as they fitted a bathroom wall cupboard with mirrored doors, that I can see myself in, head and shoulders, no problem.

"I can lie down in most bath tubs"

Our own bath at home is the short version of the model, simply because the standard version wouldn't have fitted in our rather small bathroom. I (5'0") can lie down in that, and happily soak for ages. The problem comes at hotels, where the bath is often too long for me to lie down in without being in danger of slipping under completely. I can only sit in them and hold onto the grab handles for dear life, for fear of drowning. Hardly relaxing!

4'11" and a 1/2 here (very important half!) Pros and Cons I think. When I started driving needed a cushion but so much easier now with seats pumping up and movable steering wheels. Don't find clothes too much of a problem...found a trusted alterations shop if i need it ! Love buying my trainers cheaper ! Find people are helpful in shops if I can't reach...can still turn on a bit of cute even at my age ! Do sometimes feel a bit 'invisable' in large groups or busy areas and some people think they are hilarious with their 'jokes' ! X

To all the shorties complaining about seat belts cutting into their necks- I had the same complaint until I started using really soft and padded seatbelt covers! Might be listed as seatbelt pads some places. They are a game changer for me! No more painful edge of seatbelt digging into my neck since I got them.

Im the same op 4"11 but i love it.

Yes, I use one of those padded seatbelt adjusters from Halfords, designed for children shorter people, which does the job. Thankfully it's in the standard Halfords orange and black colours, so not kiddy looking.

Haha this is absolutely me in most cars, it's a struggle!

I'm 156cm (about 5ft1) and the dangly legs thing on public transport/aeroplanes annoys me, makes me fidgety and grumpy. Ditto people leaning on the poles on the tube/buses! Climbing onto barstools is another indignity, feels like that scene from Lord of the Rings "it comes in pints!"

Also that petite sections are so frilly and froufy, akin to the toddler section with all the bows, florals and ruffles. I prefer a more minimalist style that seems reserved for taller ladies (best friend - woman - is 6ft!).. I long for Cos!

Fancy hotel baths being too big, talk about first world problems.

Love being short. It actually feels like the world is designed more for us than for tall people. I can fit into beds that aren't mine, I don't bump my head on low ceilings or doorways, I fit into aeroplane seats. DP is 6'4" and I don't especially envy him when we go on holiday. Being able to reach the top shelf isn't that important in comparison.

Buying clothes can suck sometimes but on the other hand I've saved a fortune over the years because my dream top or dress is too big for me.

Not being able to see at gigs is annoying but I've become adept at getting good sightlines, plus I became more of a clubber anyway where looking at the DJ is completely unimportant.

I do sometimes dream of being able to wear a trenchcoat without looking like I've fallen into a tent, and I fantasise occasionally about being a six-foot Amazonian goddess. I never understand those women who are petrified of being taller or bigger than their partners, it always looks so powerful and impressive to me. On the whole though I'm happy with my size!

5 foot and half an inch. I really like being short , which is good because I can’t do anything about it! 😀 I think you just have to embrace the things you can’t change. My best friend is 4 foot 11 and always gets comments about her height which is very offended by. I have obviously had comments about my height too, but it has never bothered me

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