Joerg says: "They are not big, they are tall. Why is it so difficult to distinguish?"

Ladies are all bigger than Michael Jordan

16th September 2017 by Julian Cheatle

My Giant Life returns to TLC for Season 3 this weekend — following the day-to-day happenings of six extraordinarily tall women. But just how tall are the stars of the show, which is now in its third season? The answer is…they’re BIG!

The average height of a woman in the United States is around 5 feet 4 inches — while the women on My Giant Life range from 6 feet 6 inches to an incredible 6 feet 9 inches. Two of the stars, Katja and Lindsay are both 6ft 9in, making them nearly one-and-a-half feet taller than the average woman. They are also taller than Basketball players Michael Jordan (6ft 5in), Kobe Bryant (6ft 6in) and LeBron James (6ft 8in).

The new season of My Giant Life has lots in store, with baby fever, pregnancy drama and breakups.

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How Tall Are You - The Pros and Cons of Exceptional Height by Don Doxsie

Don Doxsie, former award-winning sportswriter and columnist, has written a very entertaining book about his interactions with people about “different aspects of extreme height”. Don himself was “only” 6’5”, as he jokingly puts it in the first chapter of the book, when he went on a spring break trip to Florida.

Don also writes about his encounter with attendees of a “little people’s convention” in Fort Wayne, Indiana. As you may have gathered, the comments and questions were rather predictable.

Along the way Don references other authors like Ralph Keyes or Arianne Cohen whose book is also listed in this section. You can say that Don covers every angle of the topic of being (too) tall. This comes as no surprise as this book has been in the making for decades. 

I found "How Tall Are You - The Pros and Cons of Exceptional Height" to be highly entertaining, well researched and always on topic. Since I am well familiar with the subject, I appreciate Don Doxsie's work immensely. It's especially fun to read the names of women who are friends of this website, namely the owners of Amalli Talli, Simply Tall and Talltique. I must say I'm glad that Don found it important to dedicate a whole Chapter (Chapter 6, for this matter) to the question "What Am I Supposed to Wear?"

I will let Don explain his motivation for writing this book:

"I have been studying the plight of being very tall nearly as long as I have been tall, dating all the way back to my growth spurt of 1970, 1971 and 1972. As far back as 1978, I was penning letters to various people asking their opinions about different aspects of extreme height and reading every book and magazine article I could find on the topic. 

Through the decades, there were many times when I set aside my research for a long time (sometimes years) only to come back to it again at some point. Fortunately, I'm a highly accomplished pack rat. I kept everything.

Upon retiring late in 2021 after nearly a half century in the newspaper business, I found the time to pull together all those collected pieces with a great deal of new research and formulate it into something that hopefully is coherent, insightful and perhaps even profound. 

I'm not alone in my fascination with this subject. Many others have been scrutinizing the plight of the tall for a very long time and this book would not be what it is without the trails that they blazed..."

Let me finish this review by recommending this book. I have been richly entertained (which is a tall order, no pun intended) and found myself chuckling more than once.

Buy the book on Amazon.com

How To Date A Tall Chick

Posted by Susannah Breslin / September 29, 2009

I’m tall. I mean, I’m really tall. And I don’t mean 5’10″ tall. I’m 6’1″. That’s ridiculously tall. Kermit the Frog once said: “It’s not easy being green.” Well, it’s not easy being a tall woman, either. Among the more common pickup lines we tall ladies hear: “Do you play basketball?” (No.) “What’s the weather like up there?” (Icy.) “I’d like to climb you.” (Really, I’d rather you wouldn’t.) While some women think being tall is something worth writing a book about, other women perceive it to be a disability equivalent to a clubfoot. Mostly, it’s a blessing and a curse. I can reach the highest shelves, but I’ll never blend into the crowd. Dating? That’s a whole other story. For guys who admire amazons, here’s how to bag a tall chick.

1. Stay Away from the Cheesy Lines. Speaking on behalf of tall women everywhere, I would like to deliver this breaking news: We know we’re tall. “Gee, you’re tall,” “How tall are you?” and “Do you play basketball/volleyball?” will not endear you to us. We live every day in these elongated bodies. Consequently, some of us suffer from Tall Girl Syndrome. We love our height, but we may be ambivalent about it, too. Standing head-and-shoulders above the rest doesn’t always feel so, well, girly. Hit on us about anything other than our height — our brains, our beauty, out favorite books — and leave the tall talk for Turk.

2. Get Over It. Maybe you’ve never gone out with a tall woman. Maybe you’re a little intimidated. Maybe she’s taller than you. When dating a tall woman, operate under this premise: She’s fine with the fact that she’s tall. Let it be fine for you. Unless we hail from Amazonia, intimidating the crap out of men is not our favorite past-time. If you feel intimidated, that’s on you. Relax! Get over it! Forget about it! Most vertically-endowed women don’t care how tall you are. They care what kind of man you are. Let her know who you are, and she may fall for you.

3. Treat Her Like a Lady. We can look Chad Ochocinco in the eye, but we’re like every other woman on the inside, so treat us accordingly. Do: hold my hand, tell me I look hot, put your arm around me. Don’t: ask me to hold my hand up to yours and exclaim over how big mine is, wonder out loud what size shoe I wear, request to breed a basketball team with me. My height does not my character make. I’d rather you open the door for me, send me flowers, or walk on the proper side of the sidewalk (the outside) than make me feel like a … freak. As kids, tall girls get teased for their stature. Not everyone was 5’10″ in the eighth grade, you know. If you love our height, let us know! But don’t make a spectacle out of it. We’ll love you for it.

4. We’re All the Same Height in Bed. Honestly, I don’t totally get why men get so flummoxed about wooing skyscraper-sized women. Sometimes, I wonder if it’s sexual anxiety — are men worried they won’t “measure up” in the bedroom? We know we’re all the same height when it comes to sex. In terms of anatomy, the parts generally work themselves out. In all likelihood, I won’t end up marrying a midget, but, for the most part, height is no big deal when you’re doing the horizontal mambo.

5. And If You’re Worried About What Other People Think … You pick her up for a date. In stilettos, she’s waaay taller than you. Gulp. What will your buddies think when you roll into the party with a woman who towers above you? When other guys see a guy with a woman who’s taller than he is, they assume one of two things: A) He has a lot of money, or B) He’s really good in bed. Bagging a six-footer is big-game hunting. If you land one, everyone will assume you’re a baller. Now, get out there, and find yourself a tall woman. I bet she’s waiting for you — with her heels on.

The article was originally published here: http://www.thefrisky.com/2009-09-29/how-to-date-a-tall-chick/

How to dress when you're a tall girl

By Rosie Boydell, 13 May 2016 • 7:00am

At an above-average height of 5’9”, I am often exasperated by the poor offerings of ‘tall’ clothing on the high street. It seems to me that if you’re in the taller lady category, you’re also supposedly frumpy, wide and have little-to-no taste in clothing (which is just not true). There is, however, an abundance of long shapeless jumpers, baggy trousers, loose shirt dresses and midi skirts on offer. Are we supposed to be hiding away? Why are all the options so bland? Why are none of them even remotely form-fitting?I have spent a large portion of my life shopping for jeans that fit properly. Throughout my teens, there were countless tears-in-changing-rooms moments with my mum because we’d been searching for hours for jeans with a slim waist and long leg, but we had no such luck. For an industry seemingly biased towards tall, slim women, it surprises me that the clothing options available to us are so limited.

Dungarees, jumpsuits and playsuits are usually a total write-off. Thus far in my search I have found one pair of dungarees from ASOS which fit like a dream, while my endeavour for a flattering jumpsuit is ongoing.

Wearing a mini skirt verges on indecent exposure: bending over, ascending stairs and walking anywhere without having to constantly tug on the hem of said skirt are near impossible feats. The prefix of ‘maxi’ when applied to any item of clothing is practically laughable, unless you define maxi as calf/ankle length, while ‘midi’ seems to be more like knee length and, unsurprisingly, unflattering.

Luckily, there are some exceptions and, after many hours spent searching the high street and online for clothes to fit my long limbs, I have discovered a few gems out there. Though they are few in number, these products should provide a solid foundation on which to build your tall-drobe and hopefully inspire other brands to increase their tall variety.

Shop Swedish

Upon asking fellow tall members of the fashion team for stories of their struggles, we discovered a pattern in tall shopping. “Go for viking brands,” says luxury editor Belinda White. The average Swedish woman is 5’9” which dwarfs the UK’s average of 5’3” - no wonder we struggle to find clothes to fit, we’re living in the wrong country. Clothing from brands like Cheap Monday and COS are cut longer than many of their high-street counterparts thanks to their Nordic roots.

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How To Find Confidence And Fashion That Fits As A Tall Woman

MeiMei Fox Contributor
Women@Forbes

Amy Rosenthal stands a striking 6 foot 3 inches tall. Her sister, Alli Black, is 5 foot 10. Throughout their adult lives, they have been frustrated at being unable to find clothing that fits them appropriately. Most clothes are designed for women who stand 5 foot 3 inches. Even fashion designs that come in “tall” lengths generally are suited only for women up to 5 foot 9 inches in height. Not only that, but Black and Rosenthal have received unwanted attention due to their height since they were girls, in the form of uncomfortable comments and stares. Speaking to other tall women, they realized that this sort of societal treatment often negatively impacts confidence and self-esteem.

The sisters decided to take action. In 2014, they cofounded Amalli Talli, an online clothing retailer catering specifically to tall women. Not only are Black and Rosenthal helping tall women find clothing that fits them well, but also they are hoping to improve how such women feel about themselves. In March of 2018, they launched More Than My Height, an online platform devoted to sharing stories of their own journeys to self-acceptance as well as other positive content.

"Shopping was always a complete nightmare for me and led to bouts of tears more than once.," says Rosenthal. "It started in middle school, when I was supposed to wear khaki pants to a concert but the only potential ones long enough to fit me were from the men's section. When you can't find clothing that is both cute and well-fitting, it reinforces that idea that you aren't normal. It was another nail in the coffin of my self-confidence. For years, I hated being tall because I could never make it through a day without some comment or stare. It's very mentally draining. Even though my height provided an opportunity for me to play volleyball collegiately, I didn't learn to appreciate my body until my 30's. It then became a passion for me to change this problem for other tall girls and women, who are experiencing the same challenges."

"Imagine a shopping experience in which you were really excited to try clothes on, but when you got into the dressing room, you became depressed because nothing fit you," Black adds. "That is frustrating. But by far the biggest hurdle to jump over as a tall woman is the number of comments that strangers make about you and your body, alienating you and making you feel so different. Unfortunately, the comments never stop, even as you get older. It took the two of us many years to get comfortable and confident in our own skin. These experiences fueled our drive to leave our corporate jobs and do something. We truly have a passion for this work."

Rosenthal and Black offer these tips for coping as a tall woman:

1. Think through responses to commonly asked questions and comments so that you can control your mindset. That way, the negativity of others won't deflate you in the moment.
2. Find role models and a larger community to connect with so that you feel less isolated. It's never easy to go through something alone. We hear all the time from tall women how helpful it is to share their stories and experiences.
3. Find your interests and passions in life. Discovering who you are overall as a person and achieving success through those channels breeds confidence in other parts of your life.
4. Understand that people who have something negative to say are projecting their own insecurities onto you. Do your best to dismiss their comments, which are really just an unfortunate way for them to cope with their own demons.

As the two women behind Amalli Talli, Black and Rosenthal wear all the hats required to run the business. Rosenthal's background is in marketing, so she leads the charge in that aspect of the business. With an education in finance and accounting, Black focuses on operational strategies, including analyzing sales trends and budget allocation. Both oversee the design and production of the line.

"Our biggest purpose in designing our clothing is to help women realize that there is nothing wrong with their bodies," says Black. "It's amazing what kind of confidence we can instill in women simply by producing clothes that fit them. Hearing from our customers that they feel good about themselves and their bodies is a true joy that we will never, ever take for granted."

Rosenthal adds, "There's absolutely nothing you can do to change your height. So, it's an indescribable feeling to help tall women find love and appreciation for how they are built. That motivates and inspires us on a daily basis. It is so important to us that we play a role in helping to end the cycle of body hatred, especially starting with young girls."

The biggest challenge the Amalli Talli founders face is wanting to do it all right away even though they are only a two-person operation. Eventually, they would like to expand their fashion line beyond everyday clothing to include swimsuits, shoes, formal dresses, and athletic wear. But on the whole, they are extremely grateful to be running a business that is fully aligned with their life purpose of helping other tall women.

To others looking to tap into their life purpose, Black offers this advice. "Your life purpose may be sitting right in front of you or, as it was in our case, weaved into who you are. Follow your heart and pursue the things in life that make you the happiest. We both always loved clothing and shopping, but we never had much success at finding things that worked for us. That's how our clothing company concept was born."

"No matter which direction you go with your career, there will inevitably be challenges," says Rosenthal. "Unless you have a passion for your work, you're going to burn out or get defeated easily. Surround yourself with people who continually support and encourage you, and let go of those who don't."

I am a New York Times bestselling author, coauthor and ghostwriter of over a dozen non-fiction books and hundreds of articles for publications including Huffington Post, Self, Stanford magazine, and MindBodyGreen. I specialize in health and wellness, spirituality and psychol... MORE

MeiMei Fox is a New York Times bestselling author specializing in health, wellness and positive psychology. As a writer and life coach, she helps people align careers with their life purpose.

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As some of you may know, I am a "Plus Size" model. My measurements are: Height 5'11" Bust 45" DD Waist 35" Hips 47" which puts me at a size 14. I put the words plus size in quotations because i think that it is utterly ridiculous that because i am a curvier girl, because I have bigger hips, a bigger butt, bigger boobs, bigger arms, (you get the point) that I somehow have to be segregated in a different section in a store and I am limited to places I can shop. To me, the term Plus Size is a form of segregation. Why is it that we can't all be called models? We do the same jobs, I stand in front of a camera as long as other models, I fly the same planes, to the same places, I get paid the same, and I get the same hair and makeup done. So why do I get a different title because I have a little extra meat on my bones? This is something I will never understand and I hope that as time goes on the fashion industry will continue to jump on board.

It's incredible to me that plus size makes up 67% of our population yet so many people still gawk at the fact that a bigger woman would ever dare be on the side of a Bus or in Times Square such as the most recent Lane Bryant Campaign. I would love nothing more than to go into a store with a friend who is a size 4 and be able to get just as excited about going because i know that on the clothing rack I will find something for me as well, instead of making the walk upstairs to the corner by the bathrooms where they sell 7 pieces of "Plus Size" clothing that are all similar to that of a potato sack and are from 2012's Holiday collection. It makes me so excited to see some top designers getting on board this Curvy Girl train. I'm so grateful to have worked with so many of the incredible brands that I have who ARE on board but there aren't nearly enough in my opinion, and I'm pretty sure I speak for every other curvy girl out there.

I am praying for a curvy girl revolution, ladies! I want my children to live in a world where curvy girls being on a poster or billboard isn't "News." I don't want to have to explain myself when people ask what i do and I say "I model" followed by a sideways face and an up down at my body, "Well, I'm a plus size model..."

It certainly doesn't make me any less of a model than anyone else thats for damn sure!

Visit her website

Anja van der Spuy lets us in on struggles only tall women understand.

I can’t remember a day in my life that I haven’t thought about, or voiced one of my tall girl problems. So I thought it was about time that I shared them with you.

Tall girls, this is for you.

Oh my gosh, you’re so tall! Did you play netball at school?

Really? Really now? Out of all the possible things I could’ve done with my height in high school, you choose to ask me about netball?

No, I didn’t play netball. But I did use my long legs to kick people like you.

Where are all the tall guys?

When ordinary-sized women want to complain to me about not finding partners, I want to whip up a big cup of shut the hell up. I need to find a man who fits my dreams, but also fits into photo frames with me. SO YOU JUST SIT DOWN, OKAY?

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Here's a fact about me: I've always been tall. By the time I was 13, I was essentially 6 feet - not only taller than my classmates, but taller than most of my teachers.

Another fact: I've always had a thing for high heels. As a kid, I'd stuff socks into my mother's shoes and walk around the house, and by middle school, I was completely heel obsessed. During my annual back-to-school shopping trips, I'd try and push my parents to buy me slightly higher heels than the last time - building my way from Doc Martens to Sketchers to high-heeled clogs (hey, it was the '90s).

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Here's a fact about me: I've always been tall. By the time I was 13, I was essentially 6 feet - not only taller than my classmates, but taller than most of my teachers.

Another fact: I've always had a thing for high heels. As a kid, I'd stuff socks into my mother's shoes and walk around the house, and by middle school, I was completely heel obsessed. During my annual back-to-school shopping trips, I'd try and push my parents to buy me slightly higher heels than the last time - building my way from Doc Martens to Sketchers to high-heeled clogs (hey, it was the '90s).

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I'm 6'3" … and, no, I don't play basketball

"Stand up straight," my mom would tell me, pulling my shoulders back.

It was a phrase I heard quite often growing up. But my poor posture didn't stem from laziness. It was the result of insecurity.

With a 6-foot-tall mom and a 6-foot-4-inch dad, it was a given I'd be tall. By the time I was a sophomore in high school, I was 6-foot-2, taller than almost every one of my peers. I would wear flats and pop my hip or even bend slightly at the knees while standing in groups of my much-shorter friends. I thought even if I was just 1 or 2 inches shorter, I would fit in that much more.

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You try not to be insulted when half your face gets cropped out of a group picture.

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Please note: This is not a new article. I just found it.

Poonam Chaturvedi, who at 6’11″ is the tallest female basketball player in India, has been diagnosed with a mild form of brain tumour. Poonam spends hours dealing with the spells of excruciating headaches as a result of the tumour, for which she is undergoing treatment.

The headaches and the seriousness of her illness have not stopped her from training and playing though. She competed in the women’s basketball national championship last week, where her team Chhattisgarh triumphed over Indian Railways to hand Railways their first defeat in 12 years. The title victory remains one of the few high points of the last three months in the life of the 18-year-old Poonam, who played a key role in Chattisgarh’s triumph.

“Papa says I’ll be fine,” she says, showing the faith that she has in her parents and doctors.

“My father says it is curable and I am looking forward to returning to the sport fit and healthy,” she adds.

During the national championship finals match against Railways, as soon as she took the court her headache surfaced, although it eased out after some time.

After another player was sent out for committing five fouls, she was eager to return to the court to help her team. As her team caused one of the biggest upsets ever, during the last few minutes of the game, Poonam stood guarding the rebounds.

“Sar dard kar raha tha, magar main daudti rahi. Achha laga, final jeetna (My head was aching but I kept running. It felt good to win the final match),” she says.

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Inside the Underworld of Giant Fetishism

How I accidentally became a goddess

By TallWomanPowerMaliaArryayah

I'm a 6'6 woman who is active on social media. That's me up there on the far right, obviously. You see, I am what many people would call a giantess.

As Wikipedia puts it, a giantess is "a female giant: a mythical being, such as the Amazons of Greek mythology, resembling a woman of superhuman stature." But I'm not mythical; I'm a real person — a real person who accidentally became a fetish model on social media.

In the summer of 2018, photos of me went viral in an online forum (I have yet to find the source). Overnight, I received thousands of friend requests from people all over the world. I checked my inbox and discovered that all these people loved me for my height. It was odd. While it was nice to be recognized, the attention was only about how much I towered over short people. Why was everyone freaking out and leaving heart emojis under a random photo of me next to my short friend?

Shortly after I decided to accept some of these Facebook friend requests from admirers, I received a message from an anonymous person. Apparently, there is a whole world of people who fetishize very tall women. This man had no real name and no photo. He told me that he had a tall-lady fetish himself and said that if I wanted to grow — no pun intended — on Instagram, then I should start a new page using specific hashtags: #amazonianwoman, #tallamazon, and #heightcomparison.

I was very hesitant to take advice from a random giantess-loving dude online, but I was intrigued. And beyond simple curiosity, there was more: after years of being bullied, I'd been looking for a way to view my body positively. There had been days when I had felt so insecure about my height that I wouldn't even leave the house. Maybe I could use my height to empower others with a body-positive angle of how I overcame low self-worth and self-confidence. Since I was going through a "what the hell" kind of phase, I decided that I had nothing to lose. Besides, I'd been looking to grow my audience to showcase my writing and poetry. Despite my misgivings, I asked him if becoming a part of this community would help grow my presence.

He assured me that it would and named other women, none of whom I had heard of, who have used their height to create huge platforms on social media. He then welcomed me into the world of Amazons by calling me a "goddess." Like, thanks? What he didn't tell me was that once I began to post photos using those hashtags, I would be inundated with hundreds of DMs from hidden profiles asking me for, um, "trampling sessions." After some Googling, I discovered that a trampling session is an activity that involves being walked on or stomped on to produce humiliation or pain. OK…

I always thought that tall girls were referred to as "Amazons" as a joke or even as a compliment of sorts, on the basis of the mythical creatures. But now, on social media in 2019, an Amazon is just a term used to identify any tall female. That's it. Most tall girls and tall women have no idea that they are feeding into this fetish when they use even simple hashtags like #tall until they're flooded with DMs from short men asking for height-comparison photos—and then some.

People were absolutely obsessed with my size — not just my height, but every part of my body.

I wanted to find the positivity in this strange world. I wanted to be like the Ashley Graham of the plus-size movement, but for extremely tall women. So off into the world of Instagram I went with my new profile, @tallwomanpowermaliaarrayah.

I drew a lot of followers—hundreds, then thousands. I was hoping to attract followers who could identify with feeling like an outcast, people who were looking for encouragement to keep chasing their goals and to not give up even when they'd been bullied, but that's not exactly what I got.

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Ireland Baldwin shows off long lean legs in tiny blue dress that just covers her 'lady parts'

By Dailymail.com Reporter - Published: 09:10 GMT, 10 December 2018 | Updated: 09:24 GMT, 10 December 2018

She stands at six feet two inches.

So Ireland Baldwin doesn't have it easy when she tries to put on just any dress she finds at a store.

The 23-year-old model showed the challenges she is faced with as a tall woman, when she shared a photo of herself in a tiny blue dress to her Instagram on Sunday.

In the photo, Ireland stands in a mirror giving a sarcastic thumbs up while wearing the in question garment.

The dress featured a high slit and highlighted her legs and had a low neckline that showed off her ample cleavage, but was not to the model's liking.

'When you're over 6'0 and every tight dress is really just a long sleeve shirt that covers your lady parts,' wrote Alec Baldwin's daughter.

Ireland was alone in the photo, but she has been dating Corey Harper for the last three months.

The couple were spotted kissing at his concert in Venice, California back in October, and have seemed almost inseparable since.

Rumors around the couple first started back in August when they were photographed together.

Ireland, who is the daughter of actors Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, dated surfer Noah Schweizer last year.

Before that, she had dated rapper Angel Haze from 2014 to 2015.

Corey, 23, is an up and coming singer/songwriter whose music has been compared to John Mayer.

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It's time that the fashion industry meaningfully included tall women in the conversation

By Irene Agbontaen - Sep 30, 2020

For as long as I can remember, I've always stood out for being tall. The tall gene comes from my mother's side of the family. She's not tall herself, but her brothers are. I've always been taller than your average..

Growing up, my height made me feel self-conscious. I was always asked to stand at the back for any school photos because I was tall. There was and is a sense of always being asked to stand in the background and that affects your sense of self-worth. Tall women hunch, lean and diminish themselves so they can be at the same eye level as others. We dim our light to just feel included. Tall women are not told they're beautiful; they're told to go to the back and blend in.

One of the first times that I realised that my height excluded from me from things was when I was at secondary school. My mother and I would go on desperate shopping trips searching for plain black trousers for me to wear to school. Nothing ever fitted; they were all ankle swingers or unfashionable – there was nothing for a young, on-trend teenager. In the end, I just stuck to the old school skirt. I couldn't shop at the same places as my friends. I'd stand outside the changing rooms when my friends were trying on all these great clothes knowing that they would all look bad on me. I felt ignored and as if there was no space for me.

The advantages to all that was that it made me look deeper for my style. The singer Aaliyah was a big inspiration to me growing up – she dressed like a man but with feminine accents. I could do that as I could wear men's clothes. Being tall helped me to find my own lane.

Everyone deserves to be represented and for so long, tall women have just been given the scraps. I'm five foot 11, so I'm at the start of the tall spectrum, but I have struggled to find the most basic wardrobe essentials. My brand, TTYA, was born out of not being able to find those key pieces. I just wanted not to have to wear men's clothes all the time. When I first started TTYA, I created classics that were cut perfectly for tall women.

Representation is important, but society remains intolerant of women whose height goes above five foot seven. The only tall women we see in the media are Serena Williams and Gwendoline Christie. When I first launched my brand, Gwendoline emailed me to say thank you for including women of our height in the fashion narrative. When tall women are represented in the media, it's through the prism of masculinity. If you look at Gwendoline's character in Game of Thrones, she plays a manly giant – being tall is always associated with those things. Serena Williams has always been an advocate for her own femininity; she doesn't want to be described in masculine terms just because of her height. Honestly, if I had a pound for everyone who asked me if I play basketball, I'd be a rich woman. You're either an athlete or a supermodel, there's no middle ground.

In fashion, terms such as diversity and inclusivity are now being used as marketing buzzwords. When brands talk about clothing inclusivity, they tend to mean solely plus-size. A brand isn't inclusive just because it does a limited curve line. What about everyone else that doesn't fit into that bracket? I'm not saying that every brand should have fingers in all pies, but if we're going to use the word inclusivity we must do so correctly.

A lot of big labels want to be able to widen their bracket and to appeal to all women, but they go about it in a half-baked way. There's never much research – they just make things longer. It makes me think, 'are there any tall people behind the scenes designing this or consulting on it?' I'm a tall woman designing clothes for tall women. I understand our frustrations, what's missing in the market and what needs to be done to serve us better. I want to make sure we have a voice and a space in the fashion world.

Inclusion and diversity needs to mean something. If you're going to claim that your brand embodies those things, then that needs to start from the inside out – in your ethos, your staff and your values. It shouldn't be just a shallow front of house statement. Don't just use a tall woman in your campaign but not fully cater to them in your collection. You can't just add three inches onto a piece of clothing and think that's enough - you need to think about the construction of that garment and how it will fit a tall frame. For example, if I have a longer torso, then my waist will be at a different height. Loads of brands don't want to do the research required when designing for tall women. Instead they take the shortcuts.

Since launching TTYA, I've started thinking about my height differently. Suddenly I was very aware that there were so many women that felt the same way as me. I'd receive so much feedback from customers who felt finally heard – one girl's mother emailed to tell me that I'd made her daughter's prom because she'd managed to find a dress that fitted her. Knowing that I'd helped others made me feel understood too.

Any tall woman who walks into a room seizes the attention of everyone in it and I've learnt to think of that as an asset. I used to think about how I would best fit in, now I think, 'how can I use this to my advantage?' Tall women command a space. To all my tall female friends, if you want to wear six-inch heels, wear them. Don't let anyone else's insecurities change who you are or diminish you.

STYLE TIPS FOR TALL WOMEN:

Know your body ratio

Some people have a longer torso and shorter legs, or vice versa. Dress for your body shape; it'll make everything easier.

Don't go overboard when it comes to oversized

Only go up one or two sizes to achieve that effortless oversized look without it looking shapeless or overly baggy.

Find your wardrobe essentials

Once you have those in place, then you can layer clothes not necessarily for tall women on top.

As told to Ella Alexander.

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It's the time of year when Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit issue launches - to the chagrin of gender-equity advocates everywhere. But this year, the magazine is adding curves.

Despite the issue's name, we all know the content has nothing to do with the swimsuits, and everything to do with idealized female bodies. Gracing the cover this year is a model wearing an extremely low - many say "shockingly low" - swimsuit bottom.

And we've been hearing the buzz about the magazine's biggest-selling annual issue for days. Advertisers, journalists, writers and consumers play into its message: It's not the same old Swimsuit issue! This year, in fact, is different.

The notion of wearing a swimsuit while being larger than size 2 just got a few steps closer for a lot of women. In this edition, the size-12 model Robyn Lawley makes an appearance in the editorial portion, and Sports Illustrated accepted an ad showing a size-16 model, Ashley Graham, in a swimsuit.

The image of Lawley may show SI's growing approval for larger bodies. But as a 6-foot-tall size 12 (that's size 14 in the United Kingdom and size 16 in Australia), and with a bust of 36 inches, waist of 29 inches and hips at 39.5 inches, Lawley is much taller and thinner than most size-12 women in the non-modeling world.

Separately, the ad is for "Swimsuits for All," a company that sells swimwear for women larger than size 8. The ad is not creative: It uses the same old visual devices and adds body fat. The result is a Rubenesque, swimsuited model posing by a pool while a fully dressed, thin man looks at her approvingly.

Any kind of break from the reed-thin woman in a skimpy swimsuit is a big change. Women put themselves through torturous experiences when swimsuit season rolls around: dieting to "fit" into a bikini because they believe they must look a certain way in order to look good in a swimsuit. And hating themselves when they don't.

So these two images may just tell women what they need to hear: You do not have to be a size 2 to wear a swimsuit and enjoy yourself.

On the other hand, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue is really just old-hat sexism. Objectification of women should never be acceptable. How can we expect men, especially young men, to view women as equals when they're bombarded with images of women as something to be ogled? SI's Swimsuit issue, along with many other media images of the "ideal female body," imprints on a young man and gives him a distorted lens through which to view women: as bodies, not as people.

In an ideal world that's fair and equitable to women, this nonsense would stop. Until then, women larger than size 2 can start to see bodies like theirs in the swimsuit issue, and walk out onto the beach or pool deck with confidence.

Jennifer Berger, the executive director of the San Francisco nonprofit organization About-Face, is an expert in how media shapes our sense of self.

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In the beginning it was a rather small project. Back in the days our search-engines were Altavista and Hotbot and when I decided to research "tall women" I didn't find much. Granted, there were a few companies around that already catered to the needs of tall ladies (online) but not remotely as many as there are today. That's why I set up "Joerg's Website for Tall Women". At the time (1997) it was hosted by Tripod. A free service that allowed anyone who felt like it to upload their own website.

It was a good idea, for starters... but after a while the intrusive banner ads I had no control over made me want to find a more professional solution. So, in 2000, I decided to buy the tallwomen.org domain (other domain names were added later). The web hoster still is the German company Strato. Since I reside in Germany I decided to go with a German web hosting company. All in all I believe Strato was a good choice.

The general idea behind the website has always been "to make a difference". To find online resources that would make a tall woman's life easier. Over the years I have talked to hundreds, if not thousands, of tall ladies who reassured me that it was the right approach.

I must say though, becoming the "Godfather of Tall Ladies" made it a lot easier to find suitable chat-up lines on more than one occassion. But I like to think that was both acceptable and understandable at the time. Most of the ladies who got to know me personally will hopefully agree. I would hate to lose my halo...

Well, everything went according to plan for a long period of time but back in 2012 I noticed that Tallwomen.org's Google ranking started to go down the drain. I'm still not 100 percent sure why this was the case but I have a pretty good idea. From what I could gather Google considered websites with a lot of links as "spammy". I'm not sure I would agree but who I am to argue with THE search engine? As a matter of fact Bing gave Tallwomen.org much better listings.

At the time (2012) I started to gain access to a 23 inch 16:9 computer monitor at work. I can't tell you how crappy the website looked at that kind of resolution. I must admit: I didn't think ahead too much when I chose the (original) layout and therefore couldn't change it without major modifications. Hence the idea of finally using a Content Management System (CMS) became more pressing.

So it was about time for a complete makeover. I've been working hard for the past few weeks and I am now hopeful that I can relaunch the site by May 1st of 2014. Some of the old content is still missing but I don't think we need all of it. I will keep the old website as an archive. Check it out: https://www.tallwomen.org/oldsite/

Nowadays I'm engaged to a beautiful 6'1" lady whose name is Ari (short for Ariane). She is the best thing that has ever happened to me and because of that I love her dearly. I'm not sure I would have been able to talk to her if it hadn't been for the website... so there's another reason to celebrate the origins of what we have got here now.

Finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your patronage. You have made this website what it is by giving me words of encouragement. By criticising me. By telling me what you would like to see. I can't hide the fact that I'm neither a woman nor tall but I would like to think I / we have made a difference. The internet would be a much duller place without Tallwomen.org in it. I hope you will agree.

It’s lonely ‘at the top’ for tall women

By Silas Nyanchwani Sunday, Oct 4th 2015 at 09:52

The challenges of being tall in a city like Nairobi was outlined on this quarter-acre of space last year. From matatus with seats designed by sadistic midgets, to waiters passing bills to the tallest person. It is never funny, It tell you.

One Aquilina Magare, an incredibly beautiful woman in Texas sent me this message on my LinkedIn: “Loved your article on being a tall man. On a lighter note, you should write one on the plight of being a tall lady and having a terribly hard time finding a tall mate lol (I’m 6-foot tall, love wearing my heels and heck, no there ain’t (sic) enough tall Kenyan men to go around (I’m just saying). Well, have a great day.”

I never quite opened my LinkedIn until recently when the university forced students to open accounts. That’s when I stumbled on the message. And I thought, well, we have never said something about our tall sisters. It is time we did.

Indeed, I pity Lady Aquilina.

Kenya does not just have a shortage of intelligent and sensible politicians, tall men are acutely just as scarce. I don’t know what the national median height is, but we are a country of short, weak men. We have very few, tall, sensible men. No wonder, my clique of tall friends are always a hit anytime they go clubbing. We have snatched so many women from poor guys by virtue of height and stupidity until it stopped being funny. But we did it to teach the young men that life is unfair. Don’t seemingly useless politicians get paid using our taxes?

Now on to tall women.Tall women, especially when they have curves and wear fittingly good heels, can be sexy when strutting down an office aisle. The better if they have well-coiffed natural hair. That is the definition of sexy, more so if they wear some provocative smile to boot. All men in offices love undressing such lasses with their eyes in momentary flights of mental fancy. But most men would rather bag a short woman.

See, height is a function of dominance and leadership. Men always want to be in charge. It is hard subduing a tall woman. She is always an existential threat. It is like she might knock you over. She doesn’t need your protection.

Is it just me, or tall women always come out as combative and often peevish? Some can be intimidating. Like they can beat the living daylights out of you. Tall women are like short men. They suffer TWS-Tall Woman Syndrome. I mean, Naomi Campbell used to be hot and sexy, but she is also very temperamental. More to the point, men perceive women sexually. We first undress them with our eyes, do some mental and visual porn, and decide if a woman falls under our bedroom conquest plan.

That is why we lose concentration in those first moments when we meet a woman and we are trying to measure a few things here and there. You can picture subduing a short woman. But a tall woman is always a challenge, even at the mental stage. They don’t even make beds big enough to accommodate the tall people, so you can imagine two tall ‘thirsty bedmates’ cavorting in a 6 x 4 bed.

And that is the tragedy, my dear Aquilina.

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#KuToo no more! Japanese women take stand against high heels

TOKYO (Reuters) - A social media campaign against dress codes and expectations that women wear high heels at work has gone viral in Japan, with thousands joining the #KuToo movement.

Nearly 20,000 women have signed an online petition demanding the government ban companies from requiring female employees to wear high heels on the job - an example of gender discrimination, says Yumi Ishikawa, who started the drive.

The #KuToo campaign is a play on the word for shoes, or "kutsu" in Japanese, and "kutsuu" or pain.

Ishikawa, a 32-year-old actress and freelance writer, hopes the petition she submitted to the health ministry on Monday will lead to changes in the workplace and greater awareness about gender discrimination.

She launched the campaign after tweeting about being forced to wear high heels for a part-time job at a funeral parlor - and drew an overwhelming response from women.

"After work, everyone changes into sneakers or flats," she wrote in the petition, adding that high heels can cause bunions, blisters and strain the lower back.

"It’s hard to move, you can’t run and your feet hurt. All because of manners," she wrote, pointing out that men don’t face the same expectations.

While many Japanese companies may not explicitly require female employees to wear high heels, many women do so because of tradition and social expectations.

'THICKHEADED'

Ishikawa said her campaign had received more attention from international media outlets than domestic ones, and there was a tendency in Japan to portray the issue as a health one, not a gender one.

"Japan is thickheaded about gender discrimination,” she told Reuters in an interview. “It’s way behind other countries in this regard."

Japan ranks 110th out of 149 countries in the World Economic Forum’s gender-equality ranking.

"We need people to realize that gender discrimination can show up in lots of small ways," Ishikawa said, from how women are treated by their bosses to expectations that women will do all the housework and child-rearing even if they work.

In decades past, businessmen were expected to wear neckties, but that has changed since the government started a “cool biz” campaign in 2005 to encourage companies to turn down air-conditioners and reduce electricity use.

"It would be great if the country had a similar kind of campaign about high heels,” said Ishikawa.

She said she had been the target of online harassment over the campaign, mostly from men.

"I’ve been asked why I need to make such a big deal about this - can’t I just work this out with your company?" she said.

"Or that I’m selfish, that this is just part of etiquette."

The health ministry said it was reviewing the petition and declined to comment further.

In Britain, Nicola Thorp launched a similar petition in 2016 after she was sent home from work for refusing to wear high heels.

A subsequent parliamentary investigation into dress codes found discrimination in British workplaces, but the government rejected a bill banning companies from requiring women to wear high heels.

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She's tall. She's funny. And she's going to be advising people to, among other things, watch out for teenage hussies, never go bungee jumping naked, never go to Las Vegas without a Baptist and, above all, never send a man to the grocery store. She's Jeanne Robertson, a humorist and inspirational speaker who will appear Sunday at the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk. I knew her, in fact, before she was either Jeanne Robertson or Miss North Carolina (1963), but I never knew her when she was short.

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