I come from a family of tall people, including my maternal and paternal sides. Thanks to them growing tall wasn’t a big deal in our family. In fact, my father always told me to be like Sushmita Sen, 5 feet 9 inches with a huge dose of confidence.
It’s only when I actually grew tall that the problems started. Being in an all-girls school I was always picked to be the boy, and was often teased that I’ll grow up to have a nice moustache to match my height. In fact, that was a prophecy of sorts, because growing up I was a tomboy with short hair and a I-don’t-care attitude masking the hurt I often felt when I heard guests mutter, ‘Oh you have a daughter? We though she is a boy because girls are never this tall,’ to my parents.
However that was nothing compared to the trouble I faced in college. Around 16 boys were shorter than me and I was teased for being everything from a lamppost to a circus freak to a lambi ghodi. So affected was I that I started to slouch to feel shorter. Of course my skinny frame did me no good in my attempt to appear petite and ‘like a girl.’ This was just one of my many problems. From never being able to get a dress that fitted me – shorter lengths are a fashion curse for us tall girls – to being asked to stop being a freak and throw out my heels, I’ve faced it all. I was forever asked to slouch or bend my knees for a group photo because my head wouldn’t fit in.
I think I started feeling a bit more confident when I met a couple of guys who weren’t too shy about dating a tall girl. I mean they really are a rarity in Indian society, aren’t they? However the stares that we got when out on a date just made the whole thing too awkward to handle. But somewhere down the line I really stopped caring. In degree college when I was encouraged to participate in fashion shows and admired for being a tad taller than everyone else I realised that being tall is a boon, and long legs are an added benefit.
However the one thing that still bothers me is when we talk about body image issues we never consider a tall girl to be a part of the problem. If I call someone fat it is considered offensive, but calling someone skinny or freakishly tall is supposed to be okay. This isn’t cool. Short/overweight women think it’s totally okay to do that, because it’s not body shaming. HOW is it not body shaming?
Apart from trying to not roll my eyes when I hear another, ‘How’s the weather up there?’ joke I think being tall falls more on a positive scale for me then it did five years ago. I realised with time that no matter what shape or size I am there will always be people who will body shame you. The only solution is to ignore them!
Today, I stand tall (literally and figuratively) I don’t have a slouch and I wear shorts, skirts and dresses with pride. I also, wear heels and pull it off. Also, my Twitter bio says – I’m taller than you. 🙂
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