Short Men's Dating Woes Played for Laughs: Reuters

Sigh. So, apparently the only way I'm going to get a date at one of these Speed-Dating venues is to hope that I'm not the shortest guy there. "Ha Ha, yeah, let's all laugh at the poor short men who can't get dates, glad I'm not that short." Thanks for the healthy dose of multi-cultural sensitivity, Reuters reporter. Now, if I were a Palestinian short man...

I was reminded of a similar story that John Stossel reported on ABC's 20/20, and related in his book Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity (2006, p. 45)

Height matters to women too. 20/20 once put short and tall men in lineups behind a two-way mirror, and then invited groups of women to choose a date. They always chose the taller guys.

Listening to their comments made me cringe. We told them that one man, who stood just five foot three, was a doctor, a best-selling author, and a champion skier who'd just built his own ski house. "He's still too short!" said the women.

Another man was only five feet tall. He was handsome and well dressed. But the women weren't interested. We said he was a millionaire. He still got turned down. I asked the women what it would take to make them want to to date him. "Maybe the only thing you could say is the others are murderers," was the response.

Great. That instills a lot of hope. My younger brother's monastery is sounding pretty good right about now.

Advocates for the obese call weightism the last acceptible form of bigotry. They're wrong, of course. Heightism beats weightism's butt up and down the street. And let's be clear, I'm not referring to dwarfism here. I'm talking about people that are below average height.

Theoretically, a fat person could lose the weight, and hey, no longer fat. Short people, however, have no such avenue for self-"improvement", especially now that China has effectively banned the rack as way to increase one's height. Furthermore, several studies show that short men have fewer dating opportunities, have fewer children, and earn less, and are aced out of more job promotions than their non-height-challenged peers. Support groups, like the previous link and this one are increasing in number.

It's gotten to the point that even the medical community is weighing in on whether or not human growth hormone treatments should be covered by insurance, or if they're even necessary. Short children's parents certainly don't agree with the assessment that "research is pretty clear that it doesn't translate into distress or dysfunction." Ever been the short kid on a playground? Bullies act out their "dysfunction" on the short kids and cause a lot of "distress."

HGH is no longer an option for adults. So what's left? I guess being pointed at and taunted by moral relativistic Reuters reporters. Now, how do I go about getting dual citizenship with the Palestinian Authority...