Radcliffe: Too short to be taken seriously

How in the world are you comparing Jews to someone's height.

It's another example of discriminating a person based on an attribute which the person has no control over - which is what you did.

It's actually an intriguing comparison when you think about it, because Radcliffe's mother is Jewish, and he most likely inherited his height from her. Jews are, on average, shorter than Caucasians, and one of the arguments the Nazis used to degrade Jews was to claim their body structure is inferior to that of Germans - their skull shape, facial features and height.

Maybe. But it's a more common opinion than you're evidently aware of. In general, society tends to be more impressed with taller people. Women are more attracted to taller men, taller men tend to get the job before the shorter men, and I've come across short men who tend to "attempt" to make up for their height in various ways. Sorry, but they're just not taken as seriously.

It's true that women generally find height attractive in men. However, the same can be said for a full head of hair. Would you also say you can't take bald men seriously because women are less attracted to that? Would you say you can't take ugly men seriously?

With jobs and income, it's a more complicated subject. I think one aspect is a socioeconomic one. Wealthy families, over many generations, have access to good nutrition and health care, and thus, end up growing taller gradually. Wealthy parents usually have wealthy kids, and also pass along a good ecuation and job opportunities, important relations, and so on, and therefore their children often have good jobs and are tall.

Another aspect is that there is indeed psychological research indicating that tall men are more respected by others, or earn respect more easily. Of course some visual jobs, such as in showbusiness, sales and business executives, definitely favour tall men. However, this is more of a gradual trend rather than an absolute fact. Short men can still be successful and be respected, they just lack the initial starting bonus that tall people get.

I mean, I get that you probably think you not taking short people seriously is something normal, something instinctual. But humans are not only their instincts, they're able to think and act rationally. Just like it may be instinctual to not trust strangers (foreigners), you can think about it and come to the conclusion that they perhaps deserve the same respect and trust than people of your own nationality. Same with shorter people.

Over and out.

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