Employee suspended by National Museum obsessed with tall women with long legs, court told

Dr Andrew Halpin has sued his employer over his formal suspension from his position as Assistant Keeper of Irish Antiquities.

AN EMPLOYEE OF the National Museum of Ireland who is challenging his suspension had "an obsession with tall women with long legs", the High Court has heard.

Dr Andrew Halpin has sued his employer over his formal suspension from his position as Assistant Keeper of Irish Antiquities following media reports in February 2017.

Dr Halpin, who claims his suspension is unwarranted and unlawful, was the subject of complaints of sexual harassment from female colleagues at the museum in 2016 and 2006.

He was informed he was being suspended to protect individuals at risk based on an alleged fear that due to the stress of adverse publicity there might be a repeat of conduct previously complained of.

Dr Halpin says any claim that others are at risk are false and in proceedings against the museum seeks various declarations from the High Court which if granted will allow him to return to work.

The claims are denied.

The High Court today heard Dr Halpin was sanctioned following an investigation into an allegation of by a female colleague in 2006. He did not dispute the complaint and was sanctioned by the museum.

Another complaint of sexual harassment was made in 2016, which Dr Halpin, with an address at Yellowmeadows Avenue, Clondalkin, Dublin disputed.

A report into that allegation concluded there was no conclusive evidence to support the claim of sexual harassment.

Models

However as part of that investigation 700 pictures of "scantily clad" tall female fashion models were downloaded onto work computers by Dr Halpin were found.

The images were not pornographic, explicit or unlawful, however some of them had been altered by Dr Halpin to make the women look taller.

Oisin Quinn SC for the museum said it appeared that Dr Halpin had "an obsession with tall women with long legs". Dr Halpin cited stress as a reason for downloading this material.

Following the 2016 matter he was told by the museum not to have any physical contact with colleagues bar a handshake, not to work alone with female colleagues, and his internet access was limited. He also underwent counselling.

The case came before the High Court by way of a pre-trial application for the discovery of certain material.

Oisin Quinn SC for the museum said that it appeared that Dr Halpin had “an obsession with” and had downloaded the material “to indulge his fantasies” about tall women with long legs.

The museum seeks an order requiring Dr Halpin to give them certain medical records, including ones concerning his mental health, in advance of the trial.

Mr Quinn said the records are both "relevant and necessary" for its defence to the action.

Absurd

Counsel said as Dr Halpin seeks declarations that the museum is not entitled to require Dr Halpin to undergo either a psychiatric or neuropsychological assessment it would be “absurd” that he did not provide the medical information sought by the defendant.

Frank Callanan SC for Dr Halpin rejected the arguments advanced on behalf of the museum and said the records sought were not relevant.

Counsel said the application was "fishing" by the museum.

It was an attempt find something it didn’t know about at time it suspended Dr Halpin to see if that decision was right.

Counsel said his suspension was done to satisfy the media and create a distraction from other management issues concerning the museum.

There was no medical or lawful justification for his client to undergo medical assessments sought by the defendant, counsel said, adding the application was “punishment for suing the museum”, and "a PR stunt."

Dr Halpin was suspended after the previous matters had been dealt with, counsel said adding that his client had been caused intense upset and had been degraded and humiliated.

In reply Mr Quinn rejected claims made on Dr Halpin’s behalf.

Following the conclusion of submission from both sides Ms Justice Dierdre Murphy reserved judgment on the application. The Judge said she wanted time to consider the issues raised and would try to give her decision "as soon as possible."

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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

The family of Thailand's tallest girl, who died at age 24 last week, will donate her body to Siriraj Hospital, with hopes that it will benefit medical students.

Malee Duangdee, who was last measured at 212 centimeters, died on Saturday from a heart attack related to other chronic diseases. Malee was once recognized in the Guinness World Records in 2009 as the tallest woman in the world when she was 17 years old and measured 207 centimeters.

Thai Red Cross Society transported her body to Siriraj Hospital last night as her family hopes medical students can further their knowledge by studying her body. In Thai culture, a dead person used in medical study is respected and referred to as a "principal" among the students.

Over 3,000 people attended Malee’s funeral in Chang Kluea Temple in her hometown of Trat province, Nation TV reported.

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This is a much viewed section of tallwomen.org. Does it help to be a tall woman if you want to become famous? Well, judging from the list below it certainly won't do you any harm. 

As I keep saying: "The sky's the limit. Virtually!". For more on "celebrity heights" visit www.celebheights.com

Note: I have only listed women who have their own website or those I know "personally" and who have given me the permission to use their content, info and photographs.

By Kamilah Aisha Moon | Feb 26, 2016
Special to espnW.com

In honor of Black History Month, espnW is running a weekly personal essay about the influence of black female athletes.

I've always admired tall, strong, Amazonian women -- well before I reached 5'11" myself. Statuesque women exude a combination of confidence, power and femininity that can't be beat.

More from espnW.com

Reflecting on Olympic medalist Gabby DouglasA writer explores her connection to Flo-JoA writer reflects on ignoring black women athletes

As an Afro-puffed, chubby-cheeked girl, I sported my Wonder Woman raincoat, lunch box and backpack everywhere. My jump rope was my golden truth lasso, and I even broke my arm three times jumping off the back porch of our East Nashville apartment in my Wonder Woman swimsuit, trying to emulate her physical feat of effortlessly leaping from buildings on the show.

At some point, the live-action comic superhero I adored became eclipsed by a real-life wonder of a woman who lived in my hometown: Wilma Glodean Rudolph. She was lithe and sinewy. Her life was a study in outrunning pain and difficulty into a hard won freedom. Wilma hurdled a bedridden childhood that included scarlet fever, polio and an early doctor's prognosis of never being able to walk.

I loved knowing that her family did everything in their power to help her, taking long bus trips back and forth from Nashville's Meharry Medical Hospital to Clarksville, Tennessee, and taking turns rubbing her twisted limbs multiple times a day until she shed those braces forever. She cherished the love she came from as the source of her strength.

Though her father was a porter and her mother was a maid, she knew how spiritually and emotionally wealthy she was to come from their devoted love, surrounded by 21 caring siblings. I come from a similar foundation of love, and like her, I never take my family's support for granted.

My parents attended Tennessee State University a few years after Wilma became track-and-field royalty. She was the most famous of the school's Tigerbelles track team led by Ed Temple, one of the most successful coaches in the university's history. A sociology professor, he had a special eye for recognizing and cultivating young black athletes. The Tigerbelles were regarded as goddesses on campus; their record of achievement in the track and field world remains unparalleled -- they were unstoppable. Coach Temple promoted unity and teamwork, instilling an incredible work ethic in the women he coached into Olympic champions.

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Elizabeth Debicki is an Australian actress that was born in France. When she was five her family moved to Melbourne, Australia, where she began to walk down the path that would eventually lead her to where she is at this point and time. This rather tall woman, she stands about 6'2", has been noted as an outstanding student and has gained awards aplenty since her time in high school and is now set on making a film, TV, and stage career worth mentioning. She’s already accomplished at least a third of that goal and is still hard at work to attain the fame that she desires. With any luck and the talent that she already possesses she will continue to shine in the productions that want her and those that she auditions for.

So far she’s done a great job of getting noticed.

5. She’s very much into escaping from her own life for a little while.

As a child she liked to imagine herself as one of the characters that she happened to enjoy at the time. Children pretending to be their favorite stars and heroes is nothing new but this allowed Elizabeth to become her own person and attain a level of comfort with herself and those around her that helped her to grow and develop into someone that could slip into a role quite easily.

4. She doesn’t like to sit still.

Once she’s done with a role she wants to know what comes next. With some people this could be an indication that they are restless, that they have a wandering spirit and can’t settle no matter how comfortable they might be. With Elizabeth it feels more as though she’s eager to see what else she can do and what other roles are out there that might be right for her.

3. She trained as a dancer before going into theater.

She was about five when she started to learn ballet. The performing arts have been her field since then, though she moved into drama after a while and started gaining high marks for her performances and the ability to slip into her roles so easily. Even at a younger age it seemed that she was destined to go further, to possibly show the world what she could do.

2. She made her film debut in 2011.

She made her film debut in the movie titled A Few Best Men. She’s a relative newcomer to film despite having been around for a few years now. Chances are that at the rate she’s going now she could see a great deal of improvement in her roles and a greater involvement across the board if she plays her cards right. She is a skilled actress and should expect to see herself in bigger movies as time goes on.

1. She’s been nominated for several awards.

She’s been nominated for several but to date has only won one of note. She won Best Actress In a Supporting Role for her part in the Great Gatsby. The award was bestowed upon her by Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts.

She’s here, and there’s no limit to how high she can go.

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This piece is from 2009 but still worth reading...

Kara Cooney is a striking, six-foot-tall Irish/Italian-American brunette with a quick wit and an odd fascination with things that would bore the pants off of many young women."I love anything old and dead," she says. "I have always loved anything old and dead... but Egypt just had this special quality. I've been doing this since 1994, when I started graduate school, and I have not been disappointed yet.

"It's an incredibly powerful culture and an incredibly innovative culture. I'm still waiting to be disappointed. There are still moments where I go, 'Oh, my God.'

"I'm not bored."

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Ford Model from Lawndale Launches Series of Confidence Chats with Chicago’s Youth

5/16/2018, noon | Updated on 5/16/2018, noon 

Robin Harris, a fashion model represented by Ford Models, with an MBA in International Business has launched a series of confidence chats. Harris has been in the fashion industry for over 10 years, working as a professional model, designer, merchandiser, and creative director. She created MODEL ATELIER to fill the void and frustration that tall women have when it comes to finding stylish clothes that’s the perfect fit and length.

The mission of Confidence Chat is to empower young girls to love themselves as they are, and to know why confidence is so important to develop and have in order to face life’s challenges. The chats are a series of 4 scheduled throughout the year to be held from 10AM to NOON at the Young Women’s Leadership Charter School located at 2641 S Calumet Ave. in Chicago. The first Confidence Chat was held on May 5 and covered topics such as:

• Confidence is a mindset
• Health and Wellness
• Confidence in your appearance and style
• Paying Confidence Forward

ABOUT MODEL ATELIER:

MODEL ATELIER is a luxury design house exclusively for the tall, strong, and confident woman. It offers finely crafted ready-to-wear collections tailored for women 5’7’’and taller. Harris works together with an in-house design team to produce the finest clothing, content, and style for tall women. At MODEL ATELIER, they celebrate tall women and design modern clothing to fit the tall woman’s individual lifestyle. The company shares a common interest of being innovative, exceeding expectations, and embracing an entrepreneurial mindset. Harris is also developing a Historically Black College tour for 10 kids to visit Spellman, Morehouse College and Howard University.

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The International Olympic Committee has introduced a rule which might exclude women with naturally high testosterone levels: statistical evidence suggests that this may not make sport ‘fairer’ and dealing with another ‘T’ might be more effective...

The other 'T'

In 1968 Thomas Khosla, a lecturer in medical statistics at the Welsh National School of Medicine in Cardiff, published an article in the British Medical Journal on what he called the 'Unfairness of Certain Events in the Olympic Games'. The unfairness was caused by another controversial T: Tallness...

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Northern grad, former reality TV star Rabenberg brings comedy act to town

By Kelda J.L. Pharris - kpharris@aberdeennews.com

She's a Mobridge native and former Northern State University basketball player, TV reality star and life coach. Now Krista Rabenberg wants to make you laugh.

Rabenberg, 31, is bringing Las Vegas Laughs, with sketch comedian Steven Briggs, to the Best Western Ramkota Hotel, 1400 Eighth Ave. N.W. Shows are today and Saturday at 8 p.m.

Krista Rabenberg brings a comedy act to Aberdeen this weekend. She once played basketball for Northern State University and was on the show "My Giant Life." Courtesy photo

Comedian wasn't a career path Rabenberg took seriously right away, but it seemed to fit. The reality show wanted to run with it, and being a 6-foot, 6-inch tall woman, she had a lot of goofy things to talk about. Like crouching in bathroom stalls because she doesn't want to stand up and frighten anyone when her frame pops her head up over the doors, she said. Yes, it's a thing.

"(Comedy) is an escape for a lot of people for how crazy it is in the world right now," Rabenberg said by phone Thursday. "People need that coping method. I didn't take it seriously for a while. Once I took that perspective, I thought that I can really help people, just in a different way than I thought I would be."

Comedy is taking the front burner for Rabenberg right now. She has signed contracts with talent management companies in Canada and Las Vegas, where she is currently based. She said her Aberdeen shows are a test run with the potential for a tour through South Dakota, but nothing is on the calendar.

Previously she was on the reality series "My Giant Life." It focused on women who were exceptionally tall. Her roommate in the series was 6-foot-9. It was weird being the shorter person for one time in her life, Rabenberg said. All of those experiences, and a continuous supply from her private life, keep her material fresh.

A large part of her life while she was on "My Giant Life" played out on social media. She'd meet clients online who sought her as a life coach, which her line of work at the time. Because of her TV fame there was some unwanted attention from men who had "kinks" or "fetishes" about tall women, she said. Her decision to try standup comedy yielded better attention than her work as a life coach, she said.

Strangely enough, it has put her extensive education in psychology to good use, Rabenberg said.

Advance tickets are $15 for general admission, $25 for VIP with meet and greet at 6:30 p.m. They are available at bit.ly/2KGuSCA. General admission tickets are $20 at the door.

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Geena Davis: ‘After Thelma & Louise, people said things would improve for women in film. They didn’t’

Having built a career playing strong women, the Hollywood star is taking on sexism in the film industry, with a gender equality project that will launch at this year’s London film festival

By Elizabeth Day

Geena Davis is tall, very tall. In her bare feet, she reaches 6ft. Today, she is wearing 5in wedge heels and towers over everyone in the near vicinity.

This is worth remarking upon not because Davis’s appearance is the most interesting thing about her – it isn’t, not by a long mark – but because it shows her willingness to occupy a space, to lay claim to it. There is an assertiveness to her physical presence. Most tall women feel the need to slouch or wear flats or somehow make themselves seem that little bit less intimidating. Davis clearly has no truck with this. As she walks across to meet me, shoulders back, smile in place, arm outstretched to shake my hand, her entire stance is one of easy confidence.

Davis has long made it her mission to ensure women occupy more space in a notoriously sexist business. The film industry has never been an equal opportunities employer. But we are meeting at a time when the plates seem to be shifting. Several actresses have recently spoken out about unequal treatment and an increasing number of films are being made with complicated, interesting female protagonists at the helm. Are we at a watershed moment?

“The women in the industry, I think, are remarkable,” Davis says cautiously. “A lot of people are becoming very comfortable about saying it’s not fair.”

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She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o’er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express,
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

Lord Byron

Having It Tall - Starts Here

I'm a 6'2" woman. What's the ideal way for me to respond when people (almost always men and total strangers) ask, out of the blue, "How does a woman your height find boyfriends?" - Annoyed 

I'd opt for the macabre approach, delivered totally deadpan: "Actually, I stretch short men on a rack in my basement. You can sometimes hear the screams from the side yard."

Responding with shocking humor - in an uber-cool tone - gives you the upper hand in a way an enraged response to their rudeness would not. And yes, people who say this to you are rude - assuming you don't go around wearing a sign that reads "Hey, strangers, ask me anything! Nothing's too impolite or too personal!"

Of course, when people overstep (as maybe 6,055 other people have done previously), it's natural to get angry - to go loud and ugly in calling them on their rudeness. However, that sort of directness - explicitly telling them that they've wronged you - is probably counterproductive. Social psychologist Elliot Aronson finds that people are highly prone to "self-justification" - the ego-defending denial that they've behaved badly.

Making matters worse, our fight-or-flight system reflexively reacts to verbal attacks in the same adrenalized way it does to physical attacks. So, angry directness from you is likely to provoke a rudester into amping up the ugly - turning around and deeming you rude, wrong, and "Wow…testy!" for your response.

Ultimately, using humor as I suggested - an over-the-top statement, delivered flatly - allows you to restructure the power balance, shifting yourself out of the victim position. You're clearly informing the person they've crossed a line, with minimal aggression on your part. This is important because, as a tall girl, your energy is best put to more productive ends - folding yourself up like origami to fly in coach and fighting the Statue of Liberty for the extremely tall guys of Tinder.

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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...

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Conventional beauty standards do not promote health, they rather create the false narrative that there is only one ideal body type, and we unquestioningly subscribe to this

Reesha Ahmed | 04 November, 2021, 01:00 pm | Last modified: 04 November, 2021, 01:10 pm

Although body-shaming has become a popular topic of discussion in our society, there is another aspect of body-related prejudice that we turn a blind eye to. This is none other than heightism – the discrimination against individuals based on their heights.

This phenomenon affects multiple aspects of life in contemporary society, including but not limited to job prospects, romantic relationships, media portrayal and athletics. Unrealistic and unattainable beauty standards objectify human beings, reducing them to their physical characteristics alone. When it comes to height ideals, men bear the brunt of stigmatisation.

"I do not understand why short men think they can talk to me", a 22-year-old woman expressed this sentiment to her friend in a conversation about their preferences in men. The "conventionally pretty woman meets a conventionally handsome man" trope that we are accustomed to seeing on screen has undeniably played a part in perpetuating this discrimination.

When was the last time TV showed you a romantic relationship between a tall woman and a shorter man? The dearth of diversity on screen reinforces these stereotypes, resulting in the attractiveness of men being judged as proportional to their height.

Countless social science surveys have delineated the role played by mass attitudes in the institutional privileging of tall people. The public uncritically attributes positive traits such as intelligence, likeability, dependability, and leadership to tallness.

According to Arianne Cohen, author of "The Tall Book", men who are taller get promoted more, paid more and are considered better leaders than their shorter counterparts, not because they are more deserving, but because, "They've sort of gotten a halo in the society at this point", she says.

A study conducted by Andrew Leigh, an economist at the Australian National University, found that men who are 6-feet tall had annual incomes nearly 1,000 dollars more than men only 2 inches shorter, simply because taller people are perceived to be more intelligent and powerful.

Unsurprisingly, these advantages are conferred partly because taller people tend to exude confidence and leadership.

Eamonn Crowe opens up about the bullying and name-calling he faced at a young and impressionable age in his feature for the University of Exeter's student newspaper. He remembers being referred to as "vertically challenged" by a teacher in a classroom full of students.

"When I was younger, I often included a plea to be taller in my night-time prayers and I remember researching surgeries that claimed to make you taller online", he recalls. Those of shorter stature are conditioned to believe their height is a disability.

Eamonn confesses that growing up, he was conscious of his height, "I saw it as hindering my ability to be cool, attractive or masculine." Even though he has managed to overcome this insecurity later in his life, the account of his hardships is a testament to the fact that the shame many men experience throughout their lives because of the toxic male stereotypes that have been forced upon them.

So it is of little wonder that they do not have soaring confidence. Tall people have their fair share of struggles (discomfort in airplanes or cars, stooping down to talk to people), but these difficulties do not have the "systematic nature of oppression."

The oppression of short people is characterised by the negative view of shortness bound up within the myth of tallness. But discriminatory attitudes change according to gender. That is not to say that women are not discriminated against for not conforming to ideals.

However, in the context of heightism, men suffer the height of prejudice. Within the myth of tallness, tall and short are codes for masculine and feminine respectively. Since women are expected to possess "feminine" traits, it makes sense to society when they are short. Already the downtrodden sex, they fit neatly into patriarchal expectations and eventually are marginalised and disenfranchised on the basis of height and gender.

But patriarchy is a standard that entraps everyone, men and women alike. So, let us have a look at masculinity in the eyes of the patriarchy. Masculinity is defined by a set of immutable characteristics. Being tall, domineering, and imposing, all connote manhood.

The big macho tough guy is the epitome of toxic masculinity, and any man who fails to adhere to these constraining and potentially dangerous societal standards will be ostracised, excluded, rejected, and held up as an object of ridicule.

Humans come in a variety of heights and with the exception of hormonal conditions, overall, there is no way for one to increase one's height. Each person is born with genes that determine how tall he or she becomes. Height becomes an unattainable beauty standard once adult size is reached.

Setting a "normal" acceptable range for something that is beyond human control, and subjecting those who do not measure up to these absurd standards to discrimination and predjudicial treatment are nothing short of outrageous.

Ideal beauty has consistently been unattainable, and has led many to suffer through anxiety, depression, body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem, eating disorders, and even death. Crushed by the weight of the feeling of not being worthy, valid, enough, some are pushed to the brink of suicide.

In 2000, Robert Dunbar, an evolutionary anthropologist at University of Oxford, UK, pointed out the correlation between the stature and social acceptability of men. His research showed that shorter men not only earned less but were also less likely to marry and have children.

"Because you never quite catch up if you start small, so all your life you find yourself at the bottom of the social pile. One could imagine that this might give rise to suicidal tendencies eventually," says Dunbar.

The global news publication Insider combined medical data to calculate the mean height for each of the 25 shortest countries in the world. Bangladesh ranks 9th on the list. The average Bangladeshi is 5 feet 1.92 inches tall, and the average Bangladeshi man is around 5'5.

One may conjecture that the bias against short men is nonexistent in a country where being "short" is the norm. But this is far from the truth. Heightism is just as pervasive and entrenched in our society as in any other.

In our culture, it is unacceptable for a woman to marry a shorter man, and if she goes against the crowd and dares to do so, she will never hear the end of it. Moreover, Bangladeshis, too, have a propensity for cruelty. Shorter people find themselves on the receiving end of teasing and name-calling at school, at work, and even at home.

The effects of short-shaming are multidimensional, culminating in irreversible damage to one's mental health. We must recognise that body-shaming in any form or shape is more than just cruel words. We must ask ourselves why aesthetics are more important to us than kindness.

This is when body positivity comes into play. Some argue that body positivity enables those who are complacent and lazy, and neglect taking care of themselves. This is a common misconception. This argument is rendered invalid by the fundamentals of body positivity.

Conventional beauty standards do not promote health, they rather create the false narrative that there is only one ideal body type, and we unquestioningly subscribe to this. This is damaging for people who do not fit these criteria. On the contrary, body positivity is founded on positive psychology, which focuses on respecting and appreciating one's body, whilst taking care of it.

Self-love and self-care are not mutually exclusive. People are sometimes shamed for physical features which cannot be altered, such as height. A body positive society has no room for bullying. Those who still call body positivity an excuse for being lazy are perhaps just looking for an excuse to be cruel.

For men with a low centre of gravity to have high self-esteem, we need to reevaluate what it truly means to be a man. Viewing something as superficial as a man's physical stature as a measure of his masculinity is one of the many problematic practices that we have to unlearn.

The word "manly" can denote courage, kindness and strength: the courage to stand up against injustice, kindness for all, especially those in need, and the strength of character to flourish even in the face of adversity.

It is imperative that the height hierarchy, beauty stereotypes and conventional expectations are dismantled so that people can take ownership of their authentic, multifaceted selves and understand that they are worthy, valid, enough just the way they are.

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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.

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

By Erin Blakemore
smithsonian.com
April 10, 2015

Home Design Hacks For Those Of Us That Are Taller

Having a little extra height is often a coveted feature. Taller people are able to reach whatever is needed from a shelf without the need for a footstool, can easily see over the person in front at the cinema, and often have the most amazing long legs. However, what a lot of people don't understand is that being tall also comes with its downsides, with one of these being that most properties are designed to better suit the needs of slightly shorter people.

When you're blessed with an extra few inches of height, you end up having to crouch down more, bend over more, and often end up bumping your head on low ceilings and doorways. Living in a home that you love but isn't designed to accommodate your height can be a total nightmare; it can even make life somewhat unbearable at times.

However, the good news is that there are plenty of ways that you can adapt your home to be a better fit for your height. Keen to learn how you can go about doing that? Check out the tips and ideas below!

Start with the bathroom

Bending over the sink to wash your hands and clean your teeth can cause back pain, so why not swap out your sink for a higher set design? You can also swap your toilet basin for a design that offers a few more inches of height. As for your shower, if you have a static shower head that you have to bend to get under, replace it with an adjustable alternative that allows you to adjust the height and actually have a comfortable shower experience. These changes don't have to be as expensive as you would think - there are plenty of discount bathroom stores online that should help to reduce the cost.

Move onto the kitchen

The same issue can occur in the kitchen - if your sink and counters are sat too low, you are more likely to struggle with back pain as a result of having to bend over all the time. It's a good idea to consider raising the height of your counters and sink, to ensure that your kitchen is comfortable for you to use. As for the oven, a wall oven could be your best friend as then you can position it at whatever height works best for you. Should you want a table that's more comfortable to dine at, pick a higher set design - bar-style tables and stools can often be a great option.

Don't be afraid to be creative with the design and layout - create a space that suits your needs. Kitchen appliances can be expensive to replace, so make sure to look into adequate protection for your adapted kitchen, such as insurance or home warranties saving homes money, so that should a breakdown occur, you don't need to panic. Unexpected costs are never a welcome expense, so protecting your home's appliances is crucial.

The rest of the house

What you want to avoid are light fixtures that hang too low, as it's far too easy to bang your head on these. If you're able to, consider having the heights of your doors - and potentially, your ceilings - increased, so that you have a little extra space and can move around your home more comfortable. You shouldn't have to duck to enter a room in your own home, should you?

There you have it, a few handy hacks and ideas for making your home more tall woman (or man) friendly.

A chance meeting in Beijing set Chen Yue’s life on a course that would see her become the first Chinese woman to play college basketball in the US

The 6ft 7in woman from China and the NBA executive who gave her a life stood in the lobby of a Salt Lake City hotel last Thursday night. For a moment neither knew what to do. So many things Chen Yue had to say to Richard Smith yet no words came out. What do you tell the man who handed you a dream and never realized what he had done?Chen Yue tried. She wanted Smith to know he’s the reason she’s here. She wanted to say that when he chose her from a group of 80 boys for a basketball team in Beijing seven years ago it was the instant she thought she could be special, that she believed. And that this belief ignited a hope that brought her to the University of California where she is the first woman from her country to play college basketball in the US.

But Chen Yue’s English wasn’t strong enough for her to say these things. She couldn’t express the thoughts that swirled around her head in a mash of Mandarin and English. Instead she walked up to Smith, the director of basketball operations for the Utah Jazz and swallowed him in a hug.

And all she said was this:

"I'm so glad to see you again."

An NBA producer would eventually tell Smith the story of he and Chen is like the movie The Blind Side. Only in this instance Smith was not a parent taking in a football player but a basketball scout picking a team of children in Beijing and moved to choose a then-6ft 1in girl because she worked hard and he wanted to give her confidence.

“She hustled, I thought she should be rewarded for that,” Smith later said.

He never imagined the compulsive act of selecting a girl over a boy would inspire her to push until she found a way to do something no Chinese woman had done before. He never thought a random selection at a youth basketball camp would someday bring Chen Yue close to tears when she said: “Richard Smith starts my dream.”

He was just a guy from an NBA team halfway around the world trying to do what was right. Then he wound up changing a life.

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Dear Mona,

What is the average height differential between men and women in heterosexual relationships?

Thanks,
John, 24, New York

Dear John,

As you know, I've already written back to ask why you were so curious about the height of romance - partly because I wanted to make sure I was using relevant data and partly because I'm just plain nosy. The information you provided is, I think, significant: You're heterosexual, 5 feet 6 and came up with this question while you "and a fellow short friend were lamenting about heels."

Before I started researching this topic, I held two assumptions that you might share:

Men tend to be taller than women.Women tend to prefer taller men.

It turns out both of those are correct, but the number of inches we're talking about is still pretty fascinating. What's more, there are studies that show who's choosing a partner based on height, why they're doing it and how height differs in homosexual relationships.

Wanting to measure the height difference in existing couples (as opposed to people's preferences for a partner - we'll come to those later), researchers in the Netherlands used survey data from 12,502 couples who were the parents to babies born in the U.K. in 2000.

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