The life of a tall girl

Kaileigh Carew, Get it’s resident tall girl, pens an open letter to men everywhere…

Dear men,

Yes, I am tall. This may surprise you but I do actually own a mirror and am constantly reminded of my 181 centimetres of lankiness on a daily basis. Being a tall girl is a struggle: getting forced to stand at the back of every group photo, finding a man who is a six foot four Chris Hemsworth look-alike to date, getting abused at festivals for blocking people’s views – the list is endless (almost as long as my legs). However, I just wanted to let all males know, that just because I am most likely taller than you, does not mean that this is an open invitation for commentary. Over the years I have encountered quite a few men who feel as though they need to make judgement on how tall I am, whether it be in a positive or negative way (mostly negative might I add). Let me give you a few examples of the ‘types’ of guys out there who always have something to say about my long limbs.

The short guy

How ironic: the small, five foot nothing guy, who is hardly tall enough to go on the kids rides at Dreamworld, has the audacity to make a comment on height. Can’t they go and bother someone of their own, well, height? The issue with the short guys is that they try to make themselves feel better (and taller) by bringing us down. Tall poppy syndrome anyone? I have absolutely nothing against short people, I just want to make that clear, but as soon as you make me feel self-conscious about my stature, you can bet that I’m going to snap. Example one: I was at the races when a height-challenged and slightly intoxicated male approached me. Without even saying hello he quips, “Wow, you’re really tall. No guys must like you.” He then proceeded to chat to me like he didn’t just insult me and then asked for my number – I think we all know how that one ended. They just need to be brought down a notch or two (or up) because insulting me when you are the size of my eight-year-old cousin is not the way to my heart.

The arrogant guy

Let’s talk about the guys that know they could be Bradley Cooper’s double and just happen to be six foot three – these guys are the worst! You’ll be dancing at a bar, see him in the corner of your eye drinking his Corona and you’ll start to pull out all the stops to get noticed, because you don’t want to be the one to approach him (even though it’s 2019 and all). However, your J-Lo booty shake and Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball moves just don’t seem to be making the cut and neither does the fact that you are the tallest girl in the room, which makes you – quite literally – unmissable. Well, I’ve finally figured out why the guys we want to approach us, never do. ‘Those guys’ apparently consider us as ‘unapproachable’. Yep, ouch – it hurts! Sadly, I have been told numerous times by men, that my height makes me intimidating and unapproachable. Did this make me feel like I was going to be alone forever, growing old with my 27 cats – absolutely! Luckily, I just happen to be an animal person…

The overconfident male

Then we have what I like to call ‘the cocky guy’. He knows that every girl in the room is swooning over all six foot five of him, so what does he do about it? Well, he approaches each girl in the room of course – even us tall girls who are apparently ‘unapproachable.’ These are the types of guys who don’t consider us intimidating, even though I wish they did because they set us up for heartbreak. In my experience, the problem with these types of guys is that they are so in love with themselves that they just don’t have enough room in their hearts for anyone else, especially us because we are so lanky. Don’t stress though my fellow tall girls, we dodged a bullet there.

So men. Dear, dear men. Just because I am taller than your average girl does not give you the right to enhance your ego by dragging mine down. I love all of my lankiness and trust me, it has its perks too. At festivals, I don’t need to sit up on your shoulders to get a good view and I don’t need you to reach the Vegemite from the top shelf, and I sure as hell don’t need you to comment on my height because I know I’m tall, and I just happen to like it!

Yours sincerely, Kaileigh