Does anyone notice this? Especially in work-related or peer group settings, insults about someone's height are passed off as a "joke", and if you speak up on it, you get told that you're sensitive. How sway?

If you take any height joke and put any other quality about someone, weight, complexion, income, education, those become fireable or otracizeable offenses. "It's just a joke bro".

Whether it be in the movies, online, in print or viewable media, just the sheer idea that someone is short is somehow "hilarious".

It's become normalized.

You could say I don't find the humor in it because I am short, but you could say the same to anyone who is the recipient of any insult. 

Hello guys. I registered a long while back and have just recently found myself back here. I'll just restate my height again if I haven't mentioned it before, I'm 5ft7 or close to 5ft8 (morning height). My father was close to 6ft tall and all my uncles on my father's side were about the same or slightly taller. My mother's side of the family were short. I'm taller than all of uncles and aunts on my mothers side. So genetically I went on my mothers side mostly and due to my father being slightly tall that problem pulled my height up to just under average I guess. I remember growing up through my teens being shorter than all of my friends and holding out hope that I'll have a major growth spurt. I waited and waited and waited some more, but it never really came. I remember I had two classmates who were the same height as me at around 16 years of age that I hadn't seen in years, I saw them recently and I noticed they had major growth spurts with one reaching 6ft1 and the other touching 6ft4. I became conscious again about my height after seeing them, I just became bitter and sad for myself. I never had much luck with women who would always look past me towards my taller friends like I was invisible or not worthy of their attention, and I knew it was my height that had a part in this. I mean if you lack a bit of confidence already then being short for me anyway was the nail in the coffin. I'm much mature now and have had to force myself to come to terms with my poor genetics, but every now and again I feel sorry for myself that I am this way and have to vent. I guess it's because society has put so much emphasis that being tall means you are perfect or something and that you are the superior hunter gatherer, whatever that means. Sometimes I feel short, sometimes I don't care, but every now and then it hurts.

Not just on the dating scene, but for everything overall. Sometimes it's tough to even talk to strangers when noticing that everyone around me is so much taller. I've been to therapy, but nothing has come of it since the problems I face are external. Therapists cannot show any real empathy because it isn't a problem they can understand. Everyone keeps telling me my problems are in my head, but I know it's bigger than that.

Went out with my 6'2 friend last night to a club over here in New Jersey. My friend is an introvert, and not particularly attractive in the face. He doesn't workout and has a small gut which is visible when he wears shirts. He is an underachiever in every sense of the word. Last night, he was able to pick up a woman at the club within 25 minutes and fuck her inside of his car. A beat up Honda Civic which has a smelly interior.

Another of my friends is 6'0. He has a plain looking face and works in Retail. Not a manager or even a Customer Sales rep. He works as a stock boy. He has women smiling at him wherever he goes. It's to the point that if a woman doesn't pay him any attention, he gets pissy about it. If I am with him, women come up to us and ask for directions. They have their eyes all over him and completely ignore me.

I don't want to come off as a hater. I don't have that much trouble dating, especially since I started working out, but it is a strong reminder that my tall friends will never understand the effort that I have to put in just to get noticed. 

Yesterday I had the classic squeeze play.  A work team was visiting at my office and I was giving a tour. One fellow, Jim Smith, introduced himself and we hit it off great, mostly because I could speak eye-to-eye with him--  he was only 5’5”.   But another member of the crowd, a loud-mouthed, full-of-herself woman in the crowd, named Sandra, was yammering about all kinds of things.  She was about 5’10”, so I had already surmised that her father and any brothers must be ‘big’ men. "Real men."  Then someone pointed out that she happened to have a brother who is also named Jim Smith.  In a flash I could see exactly where this was going to go; she did not disappoint me.  “Well, but, MY brother is six foot five (with hand demonstration) and he’s so much taller and blah, blah, blah….”  I swiftly, just shy of rudeness, switched the subject to something completely different before she could finish, and seized control of the conversation. The end of her height boasting was covered over by my talking, so it died in the air.  Whew.  The things we endure.

Was reading a thread on reddit where a short guy assumes that because he is short, he (and other short guys) are going to miss out on great women. I have to counter this. I know I can be pessimistic at times (judging by my posts), but this idea is ludicrous at best. I am 5'3, shorter than just about everyone I meet, but I've met GREAT women and had GREAT relationships. YES, I have had high number of rejections, probably more than most men, but it's easy (and convenient) to blame this on height.

Last week I was out with my best friends all who were 5'10ish, and I watched them get rejected by woman, after woman, after woman. Some were beautiful, some were hideous. After watching them get rejected and the women wonder off into their circle of friends, I saw many of them laughing and partying it up. I bet many of them had great personalities, but you know what? There are BILLIONS of women on the planet. We're all not going to be Casanovas, but we still can meet great women, we just have to put ourselves out there.

All the way from childhood people thought I was supposed to just grow taller, as I grow older say 16-17 people found it odd I was still this height. I've gone through bouts of depression throughout the years, I'm 22 at the moment and although I've gotten through some serious times dealing with obesity due to how insecure I felt and lost the weight. I still can't help but feel held back through no fault of my own. These past few months I've felt extremely confident, I used to weigh 190lbs (82kg). At several points in my life I considered suicide. I am now 130lbs, I cycle 2x a week and go gym 2x a week, progressing fairly slightly slower than expected but fairly well. Even though I've gone through all this, built this confidence, it gets shattered as soon as I realize that instead of applauding you, people just bring you down. Family, friends and people who you try to ask out... This isn't a story to gain pity from anyone here, I'm sure you all have experienced similar descrimination throughout your life. I ask you though, why does it feel that everything you try to accomplish just goes unnoticed by everyone? 

Most important of all is the general perception from women I get all the time, the thing that grinds my gears the most is when I'm told "you're too short". Why, why is this a deal breaker for women? I find this to be such a disgusting statement to make, why is that they are allowed to put me down due to something I cannot control but when I mention their weight, they turn into aggressive hateful beasts? 

I felt the need to put this out there as to get it off my chest. I guess there's nothing I can do about my height, just feels bad being dealt such a harsh card in life.

Confidence comes from previous successes. If you are someone who doesn't have many successes, how are you going to be confident? Why is that people tell short guys who don't do well in dating to "be confident"? For what? Why not just admit that a lot of women are attracted to men they find attractive FIRST, then they look for "confidence"? 

It would make more sense to tell short guys to be amazing at whatever it is that they do. Be the best skier, be amazing at playing the piano, be an amazing student. That type of confidence is reassurance in your strengths, but as a means to attract women? "Be confident"? What the hell does that mean?