cranky-pants rant: It's a small world after all--and as a 6'1" woman I'm bloody SICK of it!!!

[pink-o]

Okay, I work for the airlines, so I'm prepared for the middle seat on a 13 hr flight to Australia or Thailand--I just know to book a chiropractor at the other end. I'm resigned to shopping for clothes online, receiving them in brown paper bags like I have something to be ashamed of. I understand people are gonna ask me if I play basketball or wanna know how I got to be so tall. Yeah, it's annoying but I get it.

What I don't understand is why the bloody HELL makers of gym equipment make it impossible for us!!! The elliptical controls and arm rowers come up to my waist, the spinning bike makes me feel like Quasimodo, even with the handlebars as high as I can get them. The mats are about 4 feet long, there are only about 2 workout balls for those over 6 feet and I have to search the entire gym to find them. The thigh machines are a huge joke--and the strength training stuff is so hard to adjust, you burn 1000 calories just trying to make it higher, longer, less claustrophobic!

Why, I ask you why??? Aren't athletes supposed to be tall? I was roped into sports for that very reason, so how come my gym can't accommodate me?

:wtf: :shrug: :grr: :grr:

[Patiod]

1. I'm with you, pink-o

Of course, you know the machine where you hang by your elbows and pull your knees up for crunches? It's nice to just be able to stand on the floor instead of having to climb up on it to start your workout!

I've stopped wearing pantyhose because unless I buy from this one site in the UK (which I found on a tranny website), all pantyhose crotches float about 2" above my knees (and I'm "only" 5'11"). And I can only buy pants from Long Tall Sally or LL Bean XT. I have to bend over to hear my women friends in a crowd, and they HATE it.

On the other hand, I don't need help reaching things in stores (I always stop to help little old ladeies), I get served at a bar pretty quickly, and there's more room to put calories. So we have that going for us!

[pink-o]

9. LOL! with you on the vertical crunch machine!

I also hang from the bar on the Cable Cross and can still touch the floor, so for a stretch I have to bend my knees.

As for clothes: Long Tall Sally is my all time favorite: their flagship store is a block away from where I used to live in London. Of course, it opened after I left to come home to the US--talk about rotten timing!

But check it out: last week I found great jeans in Target, they have them against the wall and they're all different fits and lengths. They also have long workout pants, and I buy shirts from their men's department and get them altered.

All tall women need a good place for alterations! Just another fact of life, off the rack does not work for us. And men's clothes can be nicer and better tailored than ours! For me, it's hard finding them small enough, but the length is perfect.

[KamaAina]

29. I hate to tell you this, but

LL Bean heiress Linda Bean is a raving, anti-choice, teabagger maniac. :(

[hfojvt]

2. I have never noticed that as a 6' man

but I have never had that much use for mats or balls or bicycles either. But there are certainly a whole bunch of men in the 5-10 to 6-2 range, so you'd think that you would not have a hard time with sizes.

[pink-o]

4. I was gonna add that: equipment designed for men is totally dif.

When I use the Smith Machine or the Cable Cross, I don't encounter the height issues at all. But I do like the chick exercises too! Like all tall women, I'm a klutz, so I'm a little intimidated by the free weights; I'll probably drop one on myself or someone close to me.

But the one chick thing I will never do: The zumba and aerobics classes. I've almost put out someone's eye when I've stretched my arms, and the other women don't like that I block their line of vision, so I've given that up. Besides, those classes require coordination, and please refer to the paragraph above regarding my poise and physical grace!

[hfojvt]

5. that's a chick thing?

I was kinda interested in zumba, seemed like it might be fun, but it turns out that I do not care for that type of music. I am more of a Simmon's Sweating to the Oldies type.

[pink-o]

10. I mostly see women in those classes, but I'm sure guys would be welcome.

I just know I'd put someone in hospital if I participated!

[Demoiselle]

28. Men have longer torsos than women.

So a 6'1" woman's legs are very much longer than a 6'1" man's.
And that could throw a lot of machines off, I think.

[blueamy66]

3. I'm 5'11" without shoes....6" with shoes...

I used to hate being tall.....now I embrace it!

Hated always being asked if I played basketball...which I did. :-)

People are stupid.

[pink-o]

7. Amy, check out this website.

http://www.thetallstreetjournal.com/

I think I'm probably a lot older than you (57 in December. Just assuming cuz I'm older than everyone these days!) and it majorly sux to see young women with the same height issues I used to have. Yeah, it was a bummer being 6'1" at aged 14, especially in the dark ages when women were supposed to be fragile and needed big strong men to protect them. Like you, I've grown to enjoy the perks and the attention: I travel alone when my friends with a real jobs can't go with me, and I feel a lot safer than a single woman who is 5'5" might. If I'm walking home at night, I pull my hoodie over my head and in jeans no one thinks I'm not a guy so I don't get hassled.

I'm just being old and cranky. Truly tired of a miniature world! But my left-handed friends have said the same thing about having to make adjustments to a right-handed majority, so it just goes with the territory.

Let me just add: I am the healthiest 6'1" 57 yr old woman I know, because of being dragged into sports and beaten with nutrition books. Many of my friends are giving money to Pharma now; I am very lucky to only occasionally take Alleve for running injuries!

[blueamy66]

20. Thx for the website. I'll check it out.

I'm 45....took me quite a few years to wear heels comfortably. My guy is 2 inches shorter than me and I just don't care.

I'm probably not as healthy as you, but I am thin and still look good at my ripe old age. :-)

[kayakjohnny]

6. Not only do I believe that this is world is not designed for tall people (I'm 6'3"),

but I also believe it's not designed for the aging baby boomer.

So many things have small readouts or small controls or dials or switches.

What older people need are larger and more operator-friendly everything.

I find many things designed poorly for me at 6-3, so I'm always imagining what it must be like for those who are 6-4, 6-6, or 6-8.

I don't get it.

(side note: I just love tall women. Love, love, love 'em. Especially when they stand proud of their tallness.)

[RebelOne]

8. As a 5-foot, 3-inch woman, I have always envied tall women.

I would like to be at least 5 foot 10 inches, but I am past the growing stage, so I just wear higher heels.

[pink-o]

11. The grass is always greener, eh?

I've had petite women tell me that a lot. I've envied you guys too!

But the whole idea of height and how we are invisible to the clothing manufacturers just reinforces the whole idea of conformity. Somehow, we're not "normal". Now, I bet you've been condescended to, and men dismiss you and pat you on the head even. No one has ever done that to me, I've always been accepted as an equal in a conversation. But back to the grass: most men didn't want me as their girlfriend when I was younger, they would date my petite friends. I was kinda hoping that idea was obsolete, but many tall young women tell me the same thing.

We should all stand proudly, as far as I'm concerned! I just want a spinning bike that I'm not hunched over!!:toast:

[Archae]

12. How about being nearly 7 feet tall?

Here's a model who is nearly 7 feet tall. :wow:

http://thechive.com/2009/11/26/new-photos-of-the-worlds-tallest-model-arrive-10-photos-1-video/

[pink-o]

13. OMG, her femur bones must've KILLED her when she was 12.

I remember lying in bed crying during my biggest growth spurt, and I'm 10 inches shorter than her.

[MiddleFingerMom]

15. My KNEES killed me -- Osgood-Schlatter's Disease through adolescence.

.
.
.
Though only 5'9" now, growth spurts would have me crying and moaning myself
to sleep at night. It was like a dull, throbbing toothache in my knees -- the
kind of "someone kill me out of kindness pain" we've all had in one form or
another. When the growth spurts stopped, so did the pain -- but, off-and-on,
I probably went through 2-3 years or more of that.
.
No real treatment for it back then -- I did not read enough of the link below
to know whether they have found ways to alleviate the pain now.
.
.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osgood%E2%80%93Schlatter_disease
.
.
.

[AngryAmish]

24. I had that as did most of my friends

The coffee table in our family home was made of marble and exactly the right height. God did that hurt.

I didn't think it was an injury, it was just something kids just got.

[REP]

32. Osgood-Schlatter IS just something teens have; I had it; I ended up at 5'3"

In my case (and my husband's, who is 6'), it later turned into chondromalacia (knee pain of unknown etiology).

[av8rdave]

14. Sadly, I'm guessing it's economics for the equipment makers

They probably only build for a certain part of the bell curve.

Our transoceanic crew rest seat is in business, and I still have a hard time getting comfortable in it. Can't imagine a center seat in coach going to Asia!

[pink-o]

18. Yeah, when you fly standby, you get the leftovers.

Air New Zealand gave me the last seat one year, and it was a center in the back row. Talk about claustrophobia! I stood by the bulkhead for most of that flight with a drink in my hand, and the flight attendants were totally understanding.

[av8rdave]

19. I'm used to it on domestic flights

After commuting to/from work for 6 years. Fortunately, I'm usually working the flight when I'm international.

[pink-o]

22. The flight deck isn't exactly spacious in a lot of planes!

And then you get a jumpseater and the walls really start closing in. My friend is 6'6" and a Fed Ex pilot based in Hong Kong, so he gets to commute from SFO to his base. Last time he got that center seat in the last row, so I don't complain anymore. Things can always be worse!

[av8rdave]

23. Very true!

Though I recently changed aircraft, and it's a lot better than it was. When I was on the 737, we had some 6 1/2 hour flights in and out of Latin America. That cockpit was NOT designed to be cooped up in for that long!

[Kat45]

16. And I found that I coudn't use some gym equipment because I'm too short.

There was one ab machine in particular--I don't remember what it looked like, but my feet wouldn't reach where they were supposed to be. And that's when I was 5'1": sadly I've shrunk 2 inches since then.

Clothing is also a problem for me. Petite clothes are for women 5'4" or under, and they tend to be made for 5'4", which doesn't work for my height. So, the problems are on both ends, tall and short. (Except that I can't reach anything.)

[applegrove]

17. It depends where they make the stuff as to what the size is. There is a co-op called

mountain equipment co-op in Canada. They sell all sorts of outdoor activity gear. They opened a shop in Halifax on the East Coast (where my ancestors are from). They make and design the clothes in British Columbia. Seems women in Halifax, Nova Scotia are large (scottish & german heritage) and women in British Columbia are tiny (asian and european heritage). The size XL (way too small - I didn't even try to put it on) did not fit me and I usually could wear that size. The manager apologized and told me they had all sorts of trouble with their new Halifax store in that regard. Could be that all the products you were testing were sized in China.

[blueamy66]

21. Just a note about pants for us tall chicks.....

Old Navy and Banana Republic have great selections.

I have a 36 to 38 inch inseam....actually got a pair of slacks at BR that were TOO LONG.

Both have great sales.

Lucky also has long inseams....but their jeans are a bit expensive.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

25. I wanted to be tall.

I am five foot three, and much shorter than my parents.

I wanted to be tall so I could fight back and attempt to intimidate the tall men who try to intimidate everyone.

However, I have seen tall men attempt to intimidate my real estate agent, and she is very tall. So I guess it doesn't matter how tall you are if you are a woman, lots of men try to take advantage of their height and intimidate ALL women.

[KamaAina]

26. Mmmmm..... tall girls....

6'3" guy here, tired of whispering sweet nothings into... nothing. :-)

[OriginalGeek]

27. I'm only 5'9" but

I would get up on a step ladder to whisper sweet nothings into a tall woman's ear. Mmmmmmmmmmmm tall women....


And I am REALLY trying to say that without sounding like a creep. The fact is I like short women too. But there's something about a tall woman that intrigues me - probably because the one tall girl I ever dated (a good 5 inches taller than I) only went on one date with me and said I was just too short. lol. I hope that was really it and I wasn't smelly or something. But that was in High School over 30 years ago and it still bugs me.

And NOW my wife won't let me go experimenting with tall women. Harrumph. Spoilsport.

[JackDragna]

30. Try being a 6ft6 man..it's no picnic.

Fit into an airplane seat? I can't fit into airplanes. :)

[Mopar151]

31. Ditto for many other places

Back seats (particularly GM and Toyota), arena seats, Porta-johns (have to step out to pull my pants up!), retail stores with lots of aisle displays.
(I'm 6'7")

[REP]

33. Being shortish sucks, too

Pants, skirts and sleeves are always too long.

Most of the upper cupboard space in kitchens is unusable.

Can't reach things on top shelves in stores.

Some cars are damn near impossible to adjust or have to be driven in a semi-slump (though it does make getting in and out of tiny two-seaters like mine easy - my car is too small for my 6' husband).

I'm not super-short either; I'm on the low end of average at 5'3" but it seems everything is scaled for people 4-6" taller.