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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be furious at BBC story saying 5 feet tall is 'stunted', 'abnormal' and justifies bullying?

46 replies

l39 · 09/05/2010 09:00

I've just run accross this article on the BBC and I'm fuming.

I am four feet eleven tall. This is my natural healthy height. One of my five daughters is taller than I am, but the others may well end up my height. They are healthy and perfect.

The girl in the article needed human growth hormone - she wasn't naturally short. But the article totally ignores the existence of people who are genetically short. From the article it sounds like anyone under five foot four is in need of treatment!

It includes a picture where she is about 8 inches shorter than her friend. There is no way the girl is 5 foot tall in the first picture and five foot four in the second, yet according to the article that's the difference the growth hormone made. I'm so angry that the article implies she was bullied because she was abnormal, then when she became normal the bullying stopped.

A) Being five feet tall is not abnormal!

B) Bullying is not due to something wrong with the victim! The faulty person is the bully!

I was never bullied about my height and I wouldn't be even an inch taller if you paid me. I am spitting blood that this article implies my lovely daughters, if they don't grow taller than me, will be abnormal and justify bullying towards them.

AIBU?

OP posts:
Original poster
l39 · 09/05/2010 09:01

Oh fgs I'm so angry I didn't include the link!

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8664473.stm

OP posts:
purepurple · 09/05/2010 09:16

I have been 5 feet and 1 1/2 inches since I was about 14. I didn't feel smaller than my friends, and don't feel that short now. I have never been bullied. DD, 13, is now taller than me by an inch. DH is well over 6 foot as is DS at 20.
YANBU to be fuming.That article says more about the way the school handles bullying (or doesn't) than about any medical condition.
It does make me wonder where we draw the line. what's next? plastic surgery for ugly children, free hair dye on prescription for ginger kids.
I think we need to be teaching our children acceptance.

giveitago · 09/05/2010 09:17

Yep, see what you mean.

My mum is one inch shorter than you and I'm 5ft - and normal in height for my genetic makeup and also I'm fine in weight and proportion.

I was never bullied - if anything I was patronised and thought of as 'cute'.

Agreed - talking about short people as though they abnormal is not on.

This is more about looking 'right'- tall, skinny, big breasted. I've always been shocked at small breasted women wanting implants saying that their self esteem would improve.

We link self esteem with our looks too much.

Nancy66 · 09/05/2010 09:20

I think you're being over sensitive. the girl in the article had an illness - you don't.

having read it I don't think it does make all short people sound abnormal.

but it is an undeniable fact that a 4ft 11 adult is very short - just as a 6ft 6ins one would be very tall.

toccatanfudge · 09/05/2010 09:23

agree with Nancy - I've read it several times through and can't see the problem.

Am 5ft exactly (was 4ft 11 1/2 until my late teens when the African sun grew me 1/2 inch) and I did get bullied at school (amongst other things for being short)

toccatanfudge · 09/05/2010 09:24

oh and the best thing that ever happened to me after having children was my norks grew - and stayed bigger

traceybath · 09/05/2010 09:29

I'm 5ft and was never bullied over height - unless you count constant comparisons to kylie minogue .

But as people are getting taller nowadays I suppose being 5ft will seem smaller as the years go by - if that makes sense at all.

I don't feel stunted though but am a small build so in proportion if that makes any difference.

VerityBrulee · 09/05/2010 09:33

YANBU

Ds2 is small for his age, he just turned 10, but wears 7-8 in clothes.

He attended a consultant for 4 years to monitor his growth and had every test under the sun to look for the cause. The conclusion was that he will always on the small side of average. This is thought to be inherited from my grandfather who was 5'4".

Already ds has encountered snide remarks and insults from other children, he is a lovely kind, funny, smart, beautiful child and it makes me and very that he will have to deal with the small-minded discrimination of others over his height.

I've often thought about this when I read threads from women who say things like "I could never date a man who is shorter than me". I dread the heartache that attitudes like this may cause ds in the future.

purepurple · 09/05/2010 09:34

nancy, how do you know that the short people on this thread don't have a growth hormone deficiency? I've never been tested for it. it does say in the article that the medical people are concerned that short people may be slipping through the net and not being treated. therefore implying that short people are in need of medical treatment to be 'normal'

Cretaceous · 09/05/2010 09:37

I see what you mean, being short myself! The bullying because of her height had nothing to do with her hormone problems. Lots of people are short, "But not all children are as lucky as Hayley" and are genetically meant to be short - poor unfortunate sods!

Email the BBC and point it out.

TotalChaos · 09/05/2010 09:38

yanbu at the emphasis on stopping bullying rather than health issues of having the hormone deficiency (as the deficiency can affect mood/quality of life in areas other than height).

pigletmania · 09/05/2010 09:39

I am 5ft 2, and various female family member on my mums side were short 5ft and below, my dads side were all tall, over 5ft 9 (my half sister) and my half brothers over 6ft. The best things come in small packages I say.

However reading that article, i would love to take that growth hormone and grow and extra 4 inch, means that i dont have to keep cutting the hem of jeans or trousers all the time to fit.

pigletmania · 09/05/2010 09:39

and my fat would be evenly distributed

Cretaceous · 09/05/2010 09:40

VerityBrulee I noticed my 10yo was wearing a t-shirt for 5yo yesterday! My oh is of less-than-average height(!). When I first started going out with him, my mum was always making remarks about how she could never date a small man etc etc.

nottirednow · 09/05/2010 09:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

aendr · 09/05/2010 09:45

I'm not "fuming", but I think the article is misleading. I agree the pictures do not tally with the words and the tag line "When Hayley Cowan was 14 she was barely five foot tall" is irritating and I'm wondering if they meant four foot not five.

I will never be five foot tall. Not being 5' at 14 is hardly a terrible thing in general.

I'm naturally short, but never felt as short compared to female peers as the difference shown in that first photo - it makes me wonder if it is an exaggeration showing a friend who shot up fast, or if the hormone did a lot more than making a 5' girl taller, perhaps by making a 4' girl taller.

I haven't been bullied for my height, but for other things. Children are cruel and many will try to find reasons to bully or be nasty to others, trivial or otherwise.
I agree that the school might have handled bullying better - or maybe the journalist is exaggerating to make a story.

As a comparator, you have to be less than 4'10" to join the Restricted Growth Association of the UK. I'm 1.5 inches too tall. It's nice to be too tall for something occasionally :-) (but I can still walk under trees without losing my hat!)

However, debunking the hormone controversy in a place which more people will read than just medical journals is a good thing because then people who had a knee jerk reaction based on out of date ideas and wouldn't consider it might then consult their doctor to find out more to see if it would be suitable.

VerityBrulee · 09/05/2010 09:45

Taking growth hormone will not make you grow unless you have a deficiency in the first place. Ds growth hormone levels are normal so it would be pointless treating him with it.

Nancy66 · 09/05/2010 09:48

Purepurple - the OP doesn't have a growth deficiency - i know this because she said so herself.

I wasn't referring to everyone on the thread, I was clearly addressing her.

McSnail · 09/05/2010 17:30

Being a short arse hasn't hindered Kylie Minogue in any way. Or Hayden Panetierre. Mm. Or Salma Hayeck. Oh and apparently Shakira is barely 5ft tall.

All gorgeous, all considered sex symbols. Haven't ever read or heard of them being described as 'stunted'...

RustyBear · 09/05/2010 17:44

Verity - I could have written every word of your post - DS is now 22 and around 5'4" - the fact that I don't know exactly how tall he is indicates how sensitive a subject it is with him. He hasn't been bullied about it since infant school (as far as I know, but then it's quite possible he wouldn't have told me), but he is constantly aware of it, and it definitely affects his confidence, especially with girls.

I hate the fact that it's seen as OK and normal on MN to make jokes and disparaging remarks about short men, but apparently I have to 'lighten up' about that....

OrmRenewed · 09/05/2010 17:46

"the article implies she was bullied because she was abnormal"

Well that might have been why she was bullied - bullies pick on anything - it doesn't mean the bullies are right. I was 'teased' for being tall - I wouldn't put it as strong a bullying but it still hurt.

twolittlemonkeys · 09/05/2010 17:50

I'm just under 5 ft and whilst I got called 'shorty' in infant school, that was it. Sure I'd have liked to be taller when I was growing up but 5ft is not abnormally short. But even if I was a fair bit shorter I wouldn't touch growth hormones. A friend took them about 15 years ago because she stopped growing at about 4'9" and felt it affected her confidence, but they also made her infertile Hopefully they've since improved them so they don't have that side effect.

agedknees · 09/05/2010 18:16

I am 4ft 10.5 inches and proud of it. My dh is 5ft 4ins and my dd is 5ft. I was due to have growth hormone treatment when I was a child. This was about 45 years ago when they used the pituatory gland from cadavers for treatment.

My mum decided last minute not to let me have this treatment. I am so pleased as it has been linked with CJD.

Being 4ft 10.5inches has not stopped me, my dh or my dd doing anything. The things that do annoy me are stupid stuff like M&S putting size 3 shoes on the top shelf, and size 8 on the bottom (but I guess that annoys tally's too).

headlessandclueless · 09/05/2010 18:23

something that hasnt been mentioned on this thread, but that does have an effect, is what race you belong to. some races tend to be taller than others. on average. for example japanes ace fighters wouldnt have even gotten into the raf because they wouldnt have been tall enough, ( dh once gave me long diatribe about this, i thought it best to shut up and listen at the time)
so, at 5'2" i am considered short by some, and on the tall side of average by others.

TheFoosa · 09/05/2010 18:28

I am a short arse too and I hate it

I would kill to be 5' 4"

It's a bugger trying to get things down from high shelves in Tesco