Short Stature Support Group
Shortness is a vague term without a precise definition and with significant relativity to context. Because of the lack of preciseness, there is often disagreement about the degree of shortness that should be called short.
Being sixteen, and facing the reality that at 5'4-5'5 and not being a late bloomer (my father is 5'6 1/2) I will eventually have to accept the fact that this isn't going to change. I've always had problems accepting myself, and the thing most people don't seem to get (because, quite frankly, they're not in your shoes) is that it takes an emotional toll on a person to be outside what society considers attractive or healthy. To actually know, instead of it being an insecurity, that a woman will have to make the decision to have children with you and factor in your genetics, is quite unnerving. Then the element people who aren't "seeing things from your perspective" comes into play, such as the realization that your son will have to go through the hardships you did.
Another problem with male short stature is that it's often seen as "ugly" or "humorous". Yet, when a woman is below 5'3", it's seen as attractive, because a man feels a natural need to feel dominating, and a shorter, well proportioned woman is often-times the more attractive, especially if the man happens to be taller.
So, even though women with familial short stature or HGH deficiencies usually have some of the same problems with it that men do, on a personal level, they usually don't have to put up with the same loss of respect (in the workplace and beyond) and relationship issues.
Another problem with male short stature is that it's often seen as "ugly" or "humorous". Yet, when a woman is below 5'3", it's seen as attractive, because a man feels a natural need to feel dominating, and a shorter, well proportioned woman is often-times the more attractive, especially if the man happens to be taller.
So, even though women with familial short stature or HGH deficiencies usually have some of the same problems with it that men do, on a personal level, they usually don't have to put up with the same loss of respect (in the workplace and beyond) and relationship issues.
Also, you're still in highschool, so I know about what you are dealing with (highschool students can be really immature), but soon you will be out of highschool and into the real world. You will find that in college and in the workplace, you will have more mature people around you.
Passing confidence isn't as easy as it sounds, I'm afraid. My father never worried much about his physical appearance, it's only me thinking the things I think. My son would feel the same pressures of society and in his angsty teenage years will probably be just as self-critical as I am, even if I can't remember being as such.
Funny how things work out that way.
I guess what i'm really getting at is that you are wrong, petite women often have exactly the same problems. And we lose respect too in that we go unacknowledged for the adults we are. People don't ever ask me if I need anything when I go shopping, and I know they are supposed to, I used to work in retail.
Isn't that more of a personal thing? I did say short women had some of the same self-esteem issues, but in my experience society had always been a bit kinder.
If you admit that people pre-judge the way you feel by the way they feel, that's reflecting my opinion that society sees it as ok, (only from a different perspective) when the people who are actually experiencing short stature may not be feeling the same thing. Self-esteem isn't just about what people are told about themselves, or how other people see them, it's how /they/ see themselves.
I wouldn't be able to see things from your viewpoint normally, that's what's great about discussing our problems with other people, so we can understand them better, and that's also what this forum is for.
Think of Tom Cruise, Justin Beiber, and some of the other men with short stature who are in the public spotlight. You can hear some pretty sick things that people say about them just because of their height, yet people like Jessica Simpson (5'2) Vanessa Hudgens (5'1) Salma Hayek (5'2) and Kim Kardashian (5'3) are considered below average height (thought arguably not by much) and yet it's never an issue.
In short, men are told by television and popular society that they are physically unattractive.
Although, to go back on myself, I suppose women would be exposed to the same treatment, it just seems what society focuses on most with women is their weight. Snooki from Jersey Shore is 4'9, and most men find her attractive, if I remember correctly (don't know anyone who watches, and I never saw the show myself).
You seem to keep coming back to how attractive is a shorter man? well I'll tell yah, just as attractive as any other. You shouldn't feel so attached to size. It's all about perception, if you don't feel like girls won't like you because of your size, they probably in most cases won't prejudge you based on your size. There is so much more to masculinity and femininity than size.
best wishes to you
Still, the quiet is strangely comforting.