Sexism and Men's Issues

5'10, the average world male height.

That doesn't sound right.

That's the average for the U.S., actually. (Or it was, as the more recent data shows that amount has gone down by half an inch.) The world average is roughly 5' 8.5''. (Sourcy McSource.)

North Korea brought the average down with their midget army

Also the average US height is something like 174cm.

edited 24th May '15 3:53:43 PM by AngelusNox

Dwarf. Pretty sure midget is considered a slur.

Dwarfism generally suggests restricted growth though some a specific congenital, hormonal or environmental issue. "Little person" includes those who just got unlucky with the genetic or economic dice, without having imbalances or medical conditions of any kind that impacted growth directly: they're just short. Really short: 147cm and below — depending on country.

"Midget" has negative connotations. And, calling somebody without medical dwarfism a dwarf is also a major faux pas.

edited 24th May '15 4:08:00 PM by Euodiachloris

Whoops, my bad. Will keep in mind.

NK soldiers aren't dwarfs, they just short.

Behold and fear North Korea's mighty army, which can't go in most Disney World's rides due to height restrictions!◊

That North Korean? Still taller than me. And, at 148cm, I do not count as either dwarf nor little person.

Your point? (Yes, their population mean is shorter than the world's mean: this doesn't make the vast majority of them dwarfs. Pygmies aren't dwarfs, either. Unless they happen to be pygmies with dwarfism.)

Yes. I know this. But, malnutrition alone isn't one of the conditions that are officially recognised for dwarfism. Little people? Sure: if the person in question is below 147cm. And, I'd argue that if a whole population is stunted due to deprivation, that metric should be lowered for that population.

They're just short. And, it's not really funny.

edited 24th May '15 4:46:51 PM by Euodiachloris

North's Korea population is severely stunned. They got hit hard with the famine and poor nourishment stick, which stunned their growth and left an entire nation of short people that makes a nice contrast to the South Korea, since South Koreans themselves tend to be relatively tall.

I just find it funny for a country that spends so much on the military and spams propaganda over how intimidating their soldiers are has for defacto soldiers that are the complete opposite of such.

Everything stops being funny when you take it seriously. For one I'll continue mocking North Korea as long as they keep pressing themselves to be the uber duper super power they think they are.

edited 24th May '15 5:16:53 PM by AngelusNox

It's funny right up until the moment you realise you're laughing at people stunted for life because they've been deprived of food by what is possibly the most authoritarian dictatorial regime on the planet.

"Possibly"?

I don't like to jinx things. I call it defiantly the worst and next week some country somewhere is going to manage to one-up North Korea.

By some measures Eritrea is worse than NK, at least according to most global NG Os.

Taking pot shots at at NK? Sure, no problem.

Using the "short is inherently funny" angle to do it... not so much. Ask any short dude how life treats him for being short and "inherently funny".

We're just going to ignore the whole short=woman=weak thing in the sexism thread?

I'm not sure there is a real connection between short = woman.

Sexism and Men's issues thread. If you wanna talk about that which you wrote, you have the Women's Issues thread at your disposal.

Short = weak, certainly but short = women? Not so much.

Scandinavian women can't relate to the problem.

Even though not everyone can't get bulky bodies filled with muscle, you can still be strong through exercises.

But sure as fuck you can't get any taller, no reason to outright shame someone for being short.

edited 25th May '15 7:28:25 AM by AngelusNox

I don't think men hate being short because they consider it a trait of women. Most heterosexual people seem to prefer the male being the taller one in the relationship. This becomes significantly easier if the man is already fairly tall and really difficult if they're short.

I didn't think this was a controversial position. Why do we associate being short with being weak? I was under the impression that weakness is associated with shortness because women are shorter then men (on average) and woman are (on average) weaker then men.

Since men need to avoid being seen as feminine they need to avoid feminine traits, even if they have no physical control over them, hence all the issues brought up on the last couple of pages.

edited 25th May '15 7:42:09 AM by thatguythere47

Not every male body issue is due to being compared to women, you know.

I wouldn't dismiss the idea entirely but I've never gotten the impression short men hate being short because it makes them feel feminine. I think shortness being associated with children is more likely. Short men are less likely to be taken seriously because they lack the intimidation factor taller men have.

Being tall was a sign of status, usually meant you're wealthy enough to be well fed and avoiding having your growth stunned during childhood.

Also associated with virility, taller muscular men are the archetypes of heroes and mighty warriors. As being tall made men naturally imposing.

Being tall is usually associated with being strong and being strong is deemed as a desirable trait.