this post was submitted on 16 May 2024
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Body positivity is such a strange concept to me. There's efforts to reclaim words while simultaneously calling them bad if used as an insult. Ideally, people wouldn't be offended by someone describing their body with common descriptors, but socially there is so much value attributed to certain body types that it's almost impossible to avoid having an emotional response of some kind to various descriptors.

For example, It's not bad to be fat, but calling someone "fat" is almost universally considered a bad thing. The same definitely seems to go for the idea of being "short."

I'm asking this question because I can't put my finger on why but something seems to be different about the use of the term "short" from the use of the term "fat." I think that part of it is how, to me at least, the term "fat" is so generic and hard to nail down to a discrete definition, implying that the word really doesn't have a clear connection to reality. On the other hand, height is a single-dimensional number. You either are above a certain threshold, or you aren't.

I recently learned that May 6th to May 10th is "short king week" because it's 5'6" to 5'10" which then prompted me to search for the origins of "short king" and apparently the person most-credited with popularizing the term is Jaboukie Young-White who claims the term was meant to include all men under 6 feet tall. The average adult male height is 5'9" leaving men considered roughly average to be called "short" which is still considered an insult by many.

I dunno. As a term that was intended to champion body positivity compared with how the term is actually used, what do you think of "short king?"

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[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

I know people mean it well and I respect that. But it's a little indirect insult, when their first reaction is to assume that you feel bad about it and to patronize you.

Of course there are people with that mindset among short dating men who often aggressively blame women's standards. So I try to be not too upset about it.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

I'm 5'4" and the term just makes me cringe. I don't normally think about my height unless someone else brings it up or I need to reach the top shelf, but I don't need encouragement in that case... just a ladder.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I don't remember women being taller than their partners being that big of a deal, until people making fun of it became a meme on the internet.

The short king thing is just another meme on the internet.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

short just negates any positivety

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

I'm a relatively short guy at 5'6". My take on this is firstly that I dislike being called "king" because it sounds patronizing, especially by someone who knows nothing about me (that just feels insincere). Secondly, I'm comfortable, even happy, with my height. There have been many times I've been glad that I wasn't taller. It's kinda funny watching taller folks hitting their heads on things and complaining about cars being too small.

With my shortness being accepted by myself, someone else randomly pointing it out by explicitly calling me a "short king" in an effort to promote body positivity makes me think that in order for them to be recognizing shortness as a potentially negative trait means they likely thought of it as a negative in the past and are now patting themselves on the backs for being "enlightened" and subtly shaming others who still haven't "evolved" to their level. It feels like less of a compliment and more of a circle jerk.

Also, I don't feel like shortness needs any championing. Going back to the topic of obesity in the discorse of body positivity, I think it's a great idea to treat people as people regardless of weight. But I think the implied premise stated by OP is flawed in this regard. I do think being happy with being overweight is different than being happy about being short. There are no apparent benefits to being overweight, since it generally increases risk factors in all kinds of medical issues. With this in mind, body positivity regarding weight should focus on encouraging others to lose weight without shaming them. The same is not true of being short. Besides the impossibility of people making themselves taller even if they wanted to, there's no negative to a person's well-being or quality of life because of it.

I can't remember any time in my life that I've ever been called short as an insult either. This post just seems to be attempting to fix a non-issue. In summary, I would rather no one speak the words "short king" at all. Just go with "you're such a badass" if you wanna give a compliment.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

There have been many times I've been glad that I wasn't taller. It's kinda funny watching taller folks hitting their heads on things and complaining about cars being too small.

6'3" guy here. Every time someone says "wow you're tall" I say that it's not that great. 6' is plenty to reach high shelves and stuff like that I think, but I struggle with leg room in public transport. I think that's more annoying than needing a ladder once in a while. Also I often feel my hair touching the roof in smaller cars.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

It's not bad to be fat

It objectively is and it's a terrible comparison to being short.

Being fat is terrible for your health and will limit your chances in love. It's not politically correct to admit it, but most people simply aren't attracted to people that are overweight, and whilst appearances shouldn't matter, they absolutely do.

The difference between being short and being fat is that you can't control your height. Controlling your weight might not be fun, but you can essentially chose what weight you are.

Bullying is obviously never ok, but if you're not ok with the idea of being called fat, then you can choose not to consistently over eat for long periods of time.

Inb4: I understand some people have severe health and mental issues that are the primary source of their obesity and I empathise hugely with these people, but most overweight people simply lack will power. Losing weight is like giving up smoking, you can want to do it, but you don't until you say "enough is enough" and actually mean it.

[โ€“] [email protected] -1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Oh god, this kind of moral grandstanding is just cringeworthy, let alone as a false concern for others.

It screams "I need the approval of others or I feel bad about my genetics over which I have no control".

If someone doesn't like how I look, oh well, that's life. Seems this is a lesson most people learn in grade school - some people aren't going to like you, you're not going to like some people.

Further, if we're talking about physical attractiveness, that's something all over the place, and something over which we have no control.

Attraction isn't a choice - what you do about it is.

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