A 13-YEAR-OLD girl died from a suspected drug overdose after being bullied because she was 6ft tall, her parents said yesterday (this is from November of 2001)

Police are investigating allegations that Morgan Musson took her own life after being subjected to threats by a gang of seven girls who attended her former school, Ellis Guilford comprehensive in Nottingham.

Her body was discovered when her mother, Debra Savage, 35, tried to rouse her for school at 6am. Morgan had swallowed 40 painkillers.

Mrs Savage said she blamed bullies for "my beautiful daughter's death".

Mrs Savage said: "She was called names and threatened with violence because of her size. Even though she was 6ft tall, she was sensitive and quiet. The bullies knew this and preyed on her."

The family claim that Ellis Guilford refused to suspend the alleged bullies.

But the school did offer to chaperone Morgan, gave her one-to-one tuition and allowed her to leave lessons early to avoid her tormentors.

Mrs Savage said: "We asked and asked teachers to take effective action to deal with the bullying.

"Why in God's name did they not expel those girls? If they had, I might still have my daughter."

Measures for dealing with bullies at Ellis Guilford School have been praised by education inspectors.

Peter Plummer, the headteacher, said: "We have a comprehensive anti-bullying policy which has been commended by Ofsted inspectors.

Any allegations or concerns regarding bullying were followed up according to the procedures set out in this policy."

In June Morgan was taken out of the school and transferred to another where she was said to be getting on well. But the bullying continued because the gang lived near her house.

The day before Morgan's death, on Wednesday last week, she had an argument with her best friend, who apparently did not want to be her "pal" anymore.

Her family claimed that the bullying had left her vulnerable and the loss of her best friend proved the last straw.

Dr Nigel Chapman, the coroner for Nottingham, said: "Police are investigating claims of bullying in relation to Morgan's death."

What is bullying and what can you do about it?

By JACKSON BIKO

In Summary

• A university student with a nice name called Vannet, who is 5’8’, emailed me lamenting how tall women have challenges that average women don’t.
• Tall girls get noticed even when they don’t want to get noticed. They draw too much attention to themselves.
• They intimidate men unknowingly, and it’s even worse when they realise you are smart on top of being beautiful and tall.
• She talks about how finding trousers that reach her ankles and sleeves that reach her wrist are a challenge.
• She also laments that being tall, men assume that she is independent.

There was a girl in my primary school that was taller than us by the time we were in Class Six.

I don’t remember her name, but I remember her knees; they looked like the nodes on an old, knotty tree. I saw her knees during physical education class – PE, as we called it.

She would gather her dress in her hands to play katiand her knees would be in full sight, and I’d stand there by the playing ground thinking, boy, that girl’s knees can make a hole through a wall.

She was conscious of her height, so she slouched, which made her look like a female undertaker. The other kids made fun of her height, so she was always defensive and aggressive, down for a fight with anyone, boy or girl, who crossed her path.

She was pretty though. She had big eyes. She was brown. She had breasts when breasts were not even in fashion. And she had a wonderful laugh. When she laughed you almost forgot that her knees were crude weapons. Almost.

We finished primary school and life scattered all of us like pollen in the wind. Then, in 2012, I ran into her at Sarit Centre. I saw her standing in the line to validate her parking ticket and I instantly knew it was her. It was her height.

SLOUCHED TO HIDE HEIGHT

She towered over everyone in that queue. Her face hadn’t changed one bit either; she was still brown – browner, even. She had those gorgeous big eyes. She was still pretty. And she had full breasts.

She still had that full infectious laugh; it’s amazing how time has nothing on someone’s laughter. Time doesn’t affect the well of laughter.

She was heavy with the weight that motherhood sometimes puts on women, but it was her alright, and I could tell that she never lost that slouch; her shoulders bent forward from the pre-pubescent days of trying to hide her height. She slouched in adulthood as she slouched in childhood.

I waited for her to finish paying, then I stopped her to say hello. She couldn’t remember me instantly. (I was fat in primary school. Fat and silent and dull.) I said, “Jackson Biko. Class eight red?” She looked at me closely and said, “Oooh, gosh, you have a beard now! A man!” (I pumped out my chest slightly, like an ape!)

I was embarrassed to ask her name, and she didn’t offer. She said she read my name in the newspaper and online and she always wondered if it’s the same Biko who she went to school with. I nodded and acted like it wasn’t a big deal the way my four-year-old son does when you tell him he’s looking smart.

We caught up. She has children now, married, professional woman and doing good from how expensive her handbag looked. I wanted to tell her jokingly that I remember her knees from those days, but maybe that would have offended her, so I didn’t.

Anyway, the whole point of this story is about tall women. A university student with a nice name called Vannet, who is 5’8’, emailed me lamenting how tall women have challenges that average women don’t. They get noticed even when they don’t want to get noticed.

CHIN UP GIRLS

They draw too much attention to themselves. They intimidate men unknowingly, and it’s even worse when they realise you are smart on top of being beautiful and tall. “Men take off,” she wrote. You suddenly become a mountain they don’t want to climb.

She talks about how finding trousers that reach her ankles and sleeves that reach her wrist are a challenge. She also laments that being tall, men assume that she is independent. “I rarely get guys to help me out, even to lift stuff up. They assume I don’t need help.”

I suppose that she also has to be sensitive about the kind of shoes she wears before meeting a man who is shorter than her. I told her, “Being a tall woman is a beautiful thing. Hold your head high. If a man runs away because of your height then maybe he’s not the kind of man you need.”

My nine-year old daughter will certainly be tall. Her mother isn’t short, and she has tall relatives from both sides of the family. At nine, my daughter is already as tall as they come. (Her knees look decent, though.)

I’d hate for her to make excuses for her height one day. To slouch. To conform. To feel the need to lower her height to be the same as the masses. Once in a while I tell her, ‘My, Tamms, you have such a beautiful height, I love it.” I hope it gets to her head and she always stands tall.

She will no doubt meet short boys in school who she might fancy, boys who might make her feel that her height is a liability, that it’s a yoke to be borne with stoicism. Unlucky for those boys, her confidence will have been reinforced by my wiring.

I will be praising her height so much that if a short, fat boy (like I was in primary school) makes fun of her height she will say, “Oh, please, you wish you could be as tall as me. I know you would love to brush your teeth without standing on a stool.”

Chin up, you young, tall girls. Chin up. Height can only be worn with grace.

Read the original article

Written by my good friend Uche Belinda Nnoka

Question for any tall readers: At the places where you spend the bulk of your day, do you feel the need to dumb down on elements of your personality or character because people have issues with your height?

I'm a 6ft 8ins tall black female and throughout my life I have found that people have issues with my presence. Typically, any disagreements I have with an issue or point of view are angrily rebuffed with 'just because you're tall!' (there was seldom a complete sentence with that statement) or 'I'm not afraid of you!' I also find that people want to argue with me a lot more than with others because in their mind, I'm trying to dominate them with my presence as opposed to my reason. Why should it automatically be assumed that I am trying to be intimidating? Isn't it possible that I was disagreeing because their argument had no sound reason or logic? Rest assured that when ever I am trying to explain my point of view or disagreeing with something, trying to overwhelm people with my height isn't is never the strategy!

To many, tall people represent intimidation, despised authority, domination, oppression and someone to be fought with, which is curious. This can in turn result in a lot of hostility from those with such feelings as they spend their time and energy devising ways to try and put us down without even getting to know us. I wonder why tall people are viewed in the negative, more than in the positive? Well, this has largely been my experience anyway. How can the fact that you are a few inches taller have such a bizarre effect on people?

As this happened so often, I found myself saying little in meetings, or not offering my real point of view when it was asked for, for fear of being misunderstood. I was then looked at as not being a particularly useful member of the team because I wasn't participating in the conversations!! I found myself second guessing everything I was planning to say so as to not come across as 'aggressive' and 'domineering' and so consequently I said very little.

In addition to not saying very much in meetings I found that somehow my sense of style changed too. I was never told to change the way I looked but, somehow I ended up becoming a blander version of myself. I no longer wore my funky earrings or my chunky bracelets; I went from wearing clothing which was vibrant and colourful to having a wardrobe that consisted of largely black and blue colours. When I spoke to people I found myself tongue tied and unable to express myself adequately, much to the exasperation of those I was speaking to as well as myself.

Unless we are very strong mentally this is what happens when we consciously or unconsciously try to change ourselves into a version that people find acceptable. We become less than the people that God intended us to be.

It took me a while to realise all of this but when I did, I made the necessary changes with speed and precision. I left the church that I was attending (yes, this sort of mess happens in churches too), I quit jobs and I walked away from negative people whose strange behaviour was sapping my soul.

I do sometimes lament that I wasn't emotionally strong enough when I was younger to be myself regardless. It is a shame that it has taken me so long to get back to being who I really am, but better late than never. I still have opinions that are typically different to those around me, and it still causes friction at times, but I'm completely unbothered by this. I've decided that if I had no malice or ill intent in my heart when I was putting my point across and people choose to view that as my being intimidating or aggressive, that's on them. I refuse to waste my time and energy trying to placate the insecurities of such individuals. As I type this I'm wearing my red and black dress with my large hoop earrings which are almost the same size as a saucer just like I used to do! Stella has got her groove back!

Did you ever go through anything like this? If so how did you deal with it?

Read the original article

From what I can gather they are not really specialising in the the topic "Tall Women" but their tag list is somewhat long nonetheless. Interesting... and some of the articles make for a good read.

Here's the full article / tag list

Height Shaming: Tall Women Tell Us Their Experiences

Lateefah Jean-Baptiste ‎22‎ ‎May‎ ‎2018, ‎08‎:‎10

Growing up, I was always the tallest girl in school. People would often make remarks about my height; standing at 6’2, they still do. I have lost count of the number of times I have been asked if I play basketball or model, although these comments never really phase me and, if I'm honest, I find the latter quite flattering. During my teenage years, though, I would often overhear strangers making mean comments about my height. Both children and, to my surprise, adults, would refer to my height as if it were some sort of burden, or an undesirable attribute that would make me incapable of attracting men. That used to make me feel really insecure.

I know I'm not the only one who feels like this. A lot of tall women grow up feeling insecure about their height, and have to come to terms with the fact that no matter where they go, someone is going to make a comment, good or bad.

Ahead, six women talk about how they deal with being height-shamed on a regular basis...

Read the original article

BY REID MENE

Sometimes the things we’re bullied for make us stand out in the most special of ways. Take twenty-year-old design student from Florida, Holly Burt, who may have the longest legs in the world.

Holly is 6-foot-5, and her legs measure a whopping49.5 inches, topping the current record holder’s 49-inch legs.

Read the full article

A new study shows natural selection is alive and well in the Netherlands

By Erin Blakemore
smithsonian.com
April 10, 2015

Winnipeg's Chantal Van Landeghem has picked up two swimming golds at the Pan Am Games in Toronto

CBC News Posted: Jul 15, 2015 11:42 AM CT Last Updated: Jul 15, 2015 8:02 PM CT

Manitoba's Chantal Van Landeghem, 21, stole the show on the opening night of swimming competition, finishing with two gold medals and two Pan Am records.

Her parents, Wayne and Dinah Van Landeghem, watched all of the excitement unfold from their home in Winnipeg Tuesday night.

Wayne spoke with Chantal right after she hopped out of the pool following the women's 100-metre freestyle race.

"[She's] really excited. And she could not get over the crowd. She said this is the first time where she actually could feel the crowd and hear the crowd. She said 100 per cent of the last 20 metres, the crowd like pulled her," Wayne said Wednesday.

He believes the double gold will give his daughter the confidence she needs to achieve her next goal, making Canada's Olympic team.

Three years ago, while trying to qualify for the London Olympics, Van Landeghem finished 0.01 second off of the qualifying time.

Canada's crown jewel

Chantal's former coach of six years, Tom Hainey, says Chantal is Canada's crown jewel in the 100-metre freestyle event. So the wins didn't surprise the coach at all.

Tuesday, Chantal beat out 12-time Olympic medallist Natalie Coughlin from the U.S. Chantal has the physical advantage over many of her competitors, measuring six feet three inches tall.

"I was so happy for her. When you coach an athlete and you go through what we went through together, the highs and lows – the low being missing the Olympic team by a hundredth of a second – and for her to do that in front of a home town crowd. That's where she trains, that's her home pool now. It's awesome," Hainey said.

"Her progress has been outstanding. And once we saw how she reacted to missing the team, I knew it was just a matter of time. She is a very big girl. Tall. And it takes long time for tall women to gain strength, no matter what you do."

Read the full article

'I love shoes but can't find any that fit': Meet 6ft 5in teen Emma, whose size FOURTEEN feet are too big for Peter Crouch's boots

Emma Cahill, 19, has one of biggest pairs of feet of any woman in EuropeOxford Brookes student from Worcester finds it 'impossible' to find shoesOwns one pair of heels from US, which she repaints three times each year

Read the full article

A Chinese schoolgirl who is nearly 7ft tall aged 11 has been compared to one of her country’s greatest ever sportsmen.

Zhang Ziyu towers over her classmates at 6ft 10ins tall and is already a prodigious basketball player.

Now Zhang, who idolises NBA star LeBron James, has been dubbed ‘the female Yao Ming’. Yao, now retired aged 38, was a Houston Rockets centre for eight years as well as a constant for the Chinese men’s national basketball team.

He is considered one of the country’s greatest sportsmen and was inducted into Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

Now in her sixth year at Wenhua East Road Primary School in Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong Province, Zhang is reportedly likely to become a basketball player in the future too.

Both her parents are former professional basketball players, who began teaching their daughter about the game at the age of five.

Her mum, Yu Ying, now coaches Shandong's provincial women's basketball team.

Zhang's classmates at school are fond of their very tall friend.

'I like Zhang Ziyu because she's very tall!' one said.

Another added: 'She can lift some of our shorter classmates using one arm!'

A schoolboy who has known Zhang since the start of primary school said: 'She was 1.6 metres (5ft 3in) in our first years. We've been growing for six years but still aren't as tall as she was in grade one.'

Another added: 'She's younger than I am by a few months, but she has to bend down to talk to me.'

Besides calling Zhang the 'Female Yao Ming', some believe China may have finally found a successor to retired professional women's basketball player Zheng Haixia.

Zheng, 51, is 2.03 metres (6 feet 7 inches) tall and represented her country from 1983 to 1996 through four Olympic Games.

Read the original article

Minnesota family confirmed as tallest in the world

A family in Esko, Minnesota, USA, has achieved a record that not many can measure up to - quite literally!

Meet the Trapp family of five; Scott, Krissy, Savanna, Molly, and Adam.

On 6 December 2020, the Trapps were confirmed as the tallest family in the world with an average height of 203.29 cm (6 ft 8.03 in). 

The family's combined height is equal to the length of half a tennis court!

The youngest (but certainly not the smallest) member of the family is 22-year-old Adam Trapp, who towers over his siblings and parents at an astounding 221.71 cm (7 ft 3 in) tall. 

Savanna Trapp-Blanchfield, 27, is next, measuring in at 203.6 cm (6 ft 8 in). Last is their sister Molly Steede, 24, standing at 197.26 cm (6 ft 6 in) tall. 

Unsurprisingly, all three Trapp kids played sports throughout their lives and were recruited by colleges for either basketball or volleyball.

"Coaches always said to us 'you can't teach height. You’re either tall or you’re not,'" said Molly.

Although they have many tall extended family members, it’s clear that the Trapp kids followed in their parents' (very large) footsteps.

Krissy, their mom, comes in as the shortest among the Trapp family at 191.2 cm (6 ft 3 in), while the father, Scott, is a towering 202.7 cm (6 ft 8 in).

Read the full article (with pictures)

BY EMILY ZAUZMER @emilyzauzmer 06/18/2015 AT 09:20 AM EDT

Even the simplest task can be a tall order when you tower over your peers.

In an exclusive preview of TLC's new five-part reality series My Giant Life, Lindsay, who stands 6'9", explains the social and physical discomfort of flying in an airplane for someone whose wingspan gives the airplane wings a run for their money.

"The airplane is very frustrating for me," Lindsay says. "I shouldn't have to feel self-conscious about walking onto an airplane, but I do because I know... that everybody on that plane is like, 'I hope I don't have to sit next to her.' "

Once she is seated, Lindsay still can't catch a break. She comments, "I get crammed on a plane, and, even if I'm in an aisle seat, my knees are, like, up to my chest." The clip shows that Lindsay is too tall to even use the table attached to the seat in front of her.

Keep up with your favorite celebs in the pages of PEOPLE Magazine by subscribing now.

My Giant Life takes a peek into the lives of four women who all measure 6'6" and higher as they attempt to stand tall in a much shorter world.

Actress and former wrestler Lindsay (6'9") nabbed the Guinness World Record for Tallest Actress in a Leading Role and now wants to find the father who abandoned her at age 11. Colleen (6'6"), a former professional volleyball player, juggles her move to San Diego and her desire to find a boyfriend. Fellow professional volleyball star Haleigh (6'7") finds herself caught between her boyfriend Brian's hope to start a family and her father's disapproval. And 17-year-old Nancy rounds out the cast as a high school student and basketball hot shot.

My Giant Life premieres July 14 at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.

Read the original article

My Giant Life: Season Two Coming to TLC in June

by Cindy McLennan, May 11, 2016

The second season of the My Giant Life TV show on TLC premieres Tuesday, June 7, 2016 at 10:00pm ET/PT. My Giant Life features six women who are 6'6" or taller, and are "seemingly too tall for the average-sized world."

Returning in My Giant Life season two are: Colleen ‘Coco’ Smith, Haleigh Hampton-Carvalho, Lindsay Kay Hayward, and Nancy Mulkey.

Get more on the second season, and new cast members Katja and Lexie, from TLC.

BIGGER IS BETTER IN THE SECOND SEASON OF TLC’S “MY GIANT LIFE”

New Season Premieres Tuesday, June 7th at 10/9c

New York, NY – TLC’s MY GIANT LIFE follows the stories of six women who stand at six feet six inches and above, and are seemingly too tall for the average-sized world. The second season, premiering Tuesday, June 7th at 10/9c, chronicles the challenges these women face, ranging from performing seemingly everyday tasks to being noticed for their extraordinary height. From dating difficulties to simply going out in public without stares, the stories in each episode get to the heart of what it means to live life a foot taller than the average female.

Meet the women of MY GIANT LIFE:

COLLEEN a.k.a COCO – Austin, Texas

At six feet six inches tall, Colleen is not the average single gal playing the field. The 36-year-old, former pro-volleyball player has struck out recently in the dating game. After her disastrous dating life in season one, she has moved to Austin for a fresh start. But when she meets Will, she has to decide if she’s willing to let him get past the friend zone.

HALEIGH – Huntington Beach, California

Standing at six feet seven inches tall, 24-year-old Haleigh has a world of possibilities at her fingertips. Last season, to her father’s dismay, she married her much shorter, 32-year-old boyfriend, Bryan. Now, they’re facing serious marital obstacles, and Haleigh is forced to choose between her husband and her family.

LINDSAY – Los Angeles, California

Statuesque and striving to make a name for herself, Lindsay stands out from the crowd at six feet nine inches tall. She is actively pursuing a career in film and television and is willing to do whatever necessary to succeed… including plastic surgery. But will her destructive habits and a tumultuous past keep her from fulfilling her dreams?

NANCY – Cypress, Texas

At a staggering six feet nine inches tall, Nancy is struggling through her senior year of high school. She has always relied on her tall family for support, but now that she is 18-years-old, she is ready to step out on her own. She knows that life will get better as soon as she gets to college to play basketball, but for now, her main focus is graduating and navigating life as a rising basketball superstar.

KATJA – New York, New York

Katja, standing at six feet eight inches tall, and her much shorter wife, Julie, five foot two, want to start a family. They have a lot of questions to answer: Who will carry the baby? Do they want the baby to be taller or shorter? And how will they decide on a sperm donor? When the stress of the decisions brings out the problems in their marriage they start to wonder if they are ready for this next chapter.

LEXIE – Phoenix, Arizona

Confident Lexie, who is six feet six inches tall, is getting married to a man stationed 2,500 miles away. Meanwhile everywhere she goes, men flirt with her. Will the distance be too much for them?

For updates, ‘Like’ MY GIANT LIFE on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MyGiantLife

MY GIANT LIFE is produced by Workaholic Productions for TLC.

Read the original article

In My Giant Life, viewers step into the shoes of women who are seemingly too tall and lofty for the average-sized world, standing at six feet six inches and above. They are faced with challenges every day - some because their extreme height makes performing seemingly mundane tasks like loading the dishwasher and getting into a car extremely difficult and others because the eyes of society are not as friendly to women of their stature. As a young lady that is a foot taller than the average female, life is anything but easy! From dating difficulties to simply going to the grocery store without stares, the stories in each episode get right to the heart of what it means to live life blessed with an extra foot or more.

Visit the "My Giant Life" website

By Helen Redding, Freelance writer
Thursday 5 Sep 2019 8:00 am

I have a distinct memory at junior school of being four foot eight inches tall. I remember this because I was the only one whose head reached beyond the top of the height chart. It’s highly unlikely that this moment was significant for anyone but me – I certainly don’t remember a collective gasp of amazement from my classmates. Nonetheless, I was, without doubt, the tall girl, the unwanted focus of the ‘my, isn’t your daughter tall’ comment when we met people in the street. It’s not acceptable to comment to someone that they’re short or wide or large-nosed. But when you’re tall, you’re fair game. Friends, family and strangers are all very quick to apply the ‘tall’ label. Because being tall must be amazing. You can reach the top shelf in supermarkets! You must be great at basketball! You can see over crowds at events! Being head and shoulders above everyone else must make you literally feel that you are. Or does it?

Imagine you’re very shy. You’ve not been blessed with beauty, have probably eaten too many Penguin bars and not got enough exercise. You’re slightly pigeon-toed, wear NHS glasses and were once summoned to the school nurse’s office because your bum stuck out too much. Imagine all those things. Do you want to stand out from the crowd or do you want to shrink back into the shadows? That was me aged eight-ish. It is also me now, as at six foot I’m still tall. Funny how the insecurities of childhood linger way into adulthood, especially when your defining feature doesn’t – can’t – go away. If you don’t like the shape of your nose you can change it; you can’t stop being tall no matter how much you slouch. I still carry with me that label of being the freakishly tall girl who has to stand at the back in group photos; a disembodied head floating above the ‘normal’ people.

I’m the person in front of you in the cinema who slips down into their seat, paranoid your family will have to rejig itself so that your child doesn’t have to struggle to see the screen through the ‘tall lady’s head’. There is no doubt that being tall has benefits but is it the same for men versus women? For men, being tall is positive and is (wrongly in my opinion) associated with masculinity. It’s that association that proves particularly difficult for a tall woman. A man once said to me: ‘You’re a big girl, aren’t you?’. I felt exceedingly unfeminine, large, an oaf, like Shrek’s Princess Fiona might feel next to Elsa. (And try having short hair too – oh, the number of times in my life I’ve been mistaken for a man.) They weren’t commenting on my weight as having just survived anorexia I was waifish. (Writing this now has made me think whether my eating disorder was partly a desire to literally shrink away …) There’s something about tall women that some men find intimidating. Not all, perhaps just those with their own insecurities.

In social situations, this has at times left me feeling deeply unattractive. Couple this with shyness and awkwardness and you start to curl up like a hedgehog. No longer just ‘tall’, you’re now labelled as ‘unapproachable’, ‘rude’ or ‘stand-offish’. To be fair, being tall can be a great way to bond with other tall women. First question: ‘Where do you buy your trousers from?’ As a six-footer (with a 36-inch inside leg in my case), your choice of shopping outlets is limited if you want the hemline to reach anywhere near your feet. Perhaps the solidarity comes from meeting someone who sees beyond the label and knows how it feels to always stand out, no matter how much you don’t want to.

As I get older, I’m less bothered about being tall but the long-held perception of myself and how I think others see me lingers. It takes a lot of confidence, self-esteem and a dash of bloody-mindedness to rise above a label, no matter how self-imposed it is. I still wish I was a couple of inches shorter, but that doesn’t stop me instilling in my daughter a pride in her inherited height. When she’s older and asks to borrow a pair of my (flat) shoes, I’ll refuse and instead give her the money to buy some kickass heels that shout ‘I’M TALL AND I’M PROUD! WATCH ME STRIDE!’

Read the original article

By NAPHEESA COLLIER | Sept 30, 2019

In this as-told-to for Bustle's All American: Growing Up series, WNBA star and Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier tells Bustle Lifestyle WriterJay Polish about growing up the tallest girl in school, the pains and perks of growing into her height, and what she'd tell her teenage self.

I've always been tall. I had a huge growth spurt every year - I just kept on growing. My family is not very tall. My mom is average height; my dad is about six feet tall. But his side of the family is really tall and my brother is 6'3''.But even as a baby, I was tall.

I grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri. It's the capital, but it's a small town. And it was hard at first because being a girl, I was taller than all the boys in the class. My feet were always bigger; my hands were bigger. I was just kind of awkward. And I was just really long and skinny, so I was kind of growing into my body for a long time, tripping over my legs basically.

In first grade, I remember we would all have to sit next to each other crisscross applesauce. I would have to cross my legs, but I'm also not very flexible. I remember there was so much space between me and the next person because my legs are so much longer - I laughed about that with my friends.

I discovered basketball when I was in fourth grade. Up until that point, I had played a lot of sports. I was playing soccer for a long time, I ran track. In softball, I was the pitcher. My first basketball coach played with the softball team a lot, and she said I should try out for the basketball team because I was tall. Basketball was the sport that I chose to do from there. I continued playing volleyball and I ran track my first year of high school. But once I moved to St. Louis at 15 years old, it was pretty much all basketball from there.

Being the height I was - I was six feet tall when I was a freshman in high school - starting a new school actually wasn't that bad because I went to an all-girls high school. It wasn't as awkward as you would think just because I was surrounded by all girls, so I didn't care about my height as much. I actually wasn't the tallest at that school. I was friends with the girl who was taller than me, McKenna. We lived near each other and texted about carpooling for basketball before the first day of school.So, I didn't know she was taller than me until we met in person.

Being on the basketball team in high school was awesome. Incarnate Word Academy in St. Louis is a really decorated school; they had won a bunch of state championships, so I knew they were a good team. We had a lot of great basketball players who went on to play D1 or D2 schools. We had a great coach, and we won state championships all three years I was there.

Growing into my height in college was a much different experience for me than in high school. I felt more normal than I ever had before because at that point, everyone had pretty much reached their maximum height. When Igotto college, I was surrounded by girls who were taller than me, especially being on the basketball team. The men's basketball team, who we saw most of the time, almost all of them were taller than me.

But I would go to class and I would still be the tallest person, unless there was another athlete in there. Sitting at desks was always awkward because it was never the right size for me. My legs hung out and my knees touched the top of the desk, because they're not made for tall people.

Before I knew where my height would take me, my mom would always say that she would love to be tall. (But she's my mom so she has to say those things, I felt.) Looking back now, I understand that.

I would definitely tell my younger self to embrace her height because it's what's gotten me to this point in my life, and I couldn't picture it any other way. Playing basketball, doing what I do now - if I weren't tall, I probably wouldn't be doing it. I felt awkward a lot, but it's the thing that has gotten me to do the thing I love now. I'd tell myself to hang in there.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Read the original article

Netflix Finds Its 'Tall Girl'

7:30 AM PST 1/24/2019 by Gregg Kilday

Newcomer Ava Michelle has been cast in the high school comedy that Nzingha Stewart is directing.

After what it described as a worldwide casting call, Netflix has selected newcomer Ava Michelle for the title role of its comedy Tall Girl, which has begun production in New Orleans. Michelle, a 6-foot-1-inch-tall actress, dancer and model, will make her feature-film debut in the role of Jodie, a 16-year-old who is the tallest girl in her high school.

"It was essential for us to find an actor to portray our lead who can speak to the challenges and lessons that Jodi experiences from a very personal place of authenticity," Nzingha Stewart, the film's director, said in a statement. "Ava's ability to beautifully and uniquely showcase those attributes stood out to us in a way that we believe audiences will connect with. Tall Girlshowcases that embracing the very qualities that make you different is what allows you to overcome anything."

The film also stars Griffin Gluck (American Vandal) as Jack Dunkleman, Jodi's best friend; Luke Eisner (The Goldbergs) as Stig, a handsome and equally tall Swedish foreign exchange student; Sabrina Carpenter (The Hate U Give) as Harper, Jodi's older sister; and Paris Berelc (Alexa & Katie) as Liz, the unconventional best friend of Jodi's bully.

Rounding out the cast are Steve Zahn (Valley of the Boom) as Richie Kreyman, Jodi's manic and anxious dad, and Angela Kinsey (Haters Back Off!) as Helaine Kreyman, Jodi's former pageant-queen mom.

Additional castmembers include Anjelika Washington (DC Universe's Stargirl) as Fareeda, Jodi's best friend; Clara Wilsey as Kimmy, the most popular girl at school and Jodi's nemesis; and Rico Paris as Schnipper, a popular jerk and one of Jodi's regular tormentors.

Directed by Stewart, who is repped by Paradigm and Management 360, and written by Sam Wolfson, the film is Netflix's fourth collaboration with Wonderland's McG and Mary Viola. Wonderland's Corey L. Marsh serves as a producer.

Read the original article

Netflix' Tall Girl - starts September 13

There has been so much talk in the media (online and offline) about the new Netflix series "Tall Girl". So far I have withstood the pressure to write about it or post articles on this website. Even though tallwomen.org would, of course, be the right place to do it. 

According to IMDb "Jodi, the tallest girl in her high school, has always felt uncomfortable in her own skin. But after years of slouching, being made fun of, and avoiding attention at all costs, Jodi finally decides to find the confidence to stand tall."

That's not something that would give me negative thoughts about the series. But it seems a little shallow.

On the other hand I read reviews like this one: "I can't believe Netflix decided tall white girls are a minority that need representation ASAP" – People on the internet are reacting to Netflix's Tall Girl movie trailer and viewers are divided.

As usual in this day and age race suddenly becomes a factor. Tall girls in general are having problems. I know that very well. So why play the race card? It comes as no surprise to me that young people these days need safe spaces. This is not a safe space, so deal with it. 

Let's just say I'm not going to watch the series. Mainly because I don't have Netflix, but also because I don't do teenage drama. Are you going to watch it? What are your thoughts? Let us know by using the "Add comment" link below.

Visit the official Tall Girl Netflix page

Meet the Women of My Giant Life

posted: 07/08/15
by: Rebecca Goldberg

COLLEEN a.k.a. COCO - San Diego

At six feet six inches tall, Colleen is not an average single gal playing the field. The 36-year-old, former pro-volleyball player is on the hunt for a man - someone between Mr. Right and Mr. Right Now - with the assistance of her best friends, Chris and Michael. She also faces the struggles of moving home to San Diego, settling into her new apartment, and tricking it out with the "tall hacks" that she uses to customize her space.

HALEIGH - Huntington Beach, California

23-year-old Haleigh stands at six feet seven inches tall and has a world of possibilities at her fingertips: a professional volleyball career that will take her around the globe, a master's degree, and all the promise that comes from being young and talented. Her much shorter, 32-year-old boyfriend, Bryan, is ready to settle down and have a handful of kids, but Haleigh's father is worried that he's going to slow his daughter down.

NANCY - Cypress, Texas

At a staggering six feet nine inches tall, Nancy is anything but an average American high school student. She is going through the rites of passage of being a teenage girl: learning to drive, finding a date to prom and then selecting the perfect dress, but none of those are easy when you're seventeen and so much taller than your classmates. Nancy learns how to rise to the challenge of being exceptional as she figures out how to navigate life as a rising basketball superstar.

LINDSAY - Los Angeles

Statuesque and striving to make a name for herself, Lindsay stands out from any crowd at six feet nine inches tall. The actress and former wrestler is the Guinness World Record holder for the Tallest Actress in a Leading Role. She gets her height from her father, but she hasn't seen him since she was 11-years-old. Ready to put the demons of her past to rest and move on, Lindsay is on a quest to locate her father and ask him why he left her all those years ago.

Read the full article on the TLC website