A recent study in Australia indicates that short people earn less than their taller counterparts.  Speaking as one who is 5′ 4″, this confirms, in part, what I’ve long thought: that discrimination against short people is endemic, and so deeply embedded in the societal subconscious that no one thinks anything of it.  I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve been called “sawed-off,” “stubby,” “little man,” and similar phrases.  I’ve even had people question the extent of my professional experience based on my appearance (apparently I didn’t look mature enough to this person to have worked as long as I had).  One co-worker (unhappy with a decision I had made) even told my boss that the next time I came into his office I’d better bring a ladder!  Now, I can give as good as I can take, but… had anyone dared call a fat employee “tubby” or “fat boy,” it would be grounds for discipline if not dismissal.  Women have fought long and hard for the right to work free of comments on their personal appearance, which is great.  But people need to a) think before they give voice to derogatory comments on another’s appearance, and b) be aware that their attitude toward others may be driven by prejudices of which they are not aware.

Tags: discrimination

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 17th, 2009 at 3:46 pm and is filed under civil rights, news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.