What's Normal Anyway?

All those threads on Jezebel, other blogs and even comments from other people about body image and what "normal" is (apparently not size 0 or 2) has been a little more than upsetting. As short women (especially short, small-framed women), we are, apparently "not normal." And if we try to say anything about it, we are shot down. I still tend to comment on these postings, but I know that it'll turn into a flame-fest or people shooting me down. We apparently can't really say how we feel without hateful comments. We can't be taken seriously, which is probably why it's so difficult to get petite designers any publicity. Even shows about petite people (who aren't all that petite, btw - e.g. ANTM Cycle 13) tend to make fun of us.

I don't get it. Whenever one Googles "body image," the links tend to be about eating disorders. Facebook has a lot of anti-size zero/pro-size 14 groups and pages, which tend to have thousands of members/fans. Petite groups/pages have far fewer. Don't you think it's time for petite women to actually take a stand? Or do we not care? And if we don't care, why? There are plenty of celebrities who're quite short, yet no one has ever complained. Apparently, they aren't "supposed to." But if we don't say anything, we're always going to be called "the little ones" rather than be considered "normal people." Especially if we're size 0.

Height discrimination vs weight discrimination

Recently on a Jezebel post about size issues, I was seriously criticized for bringing up height. Posters whom I've assumed are plus-sized kept on telling me that height discrimination isn't as bad as weight discrimination, because people don't think slimmer petites are "disgusting." Sure, most people don't think short people are "gross," but many think we're "cute," well into adulthood. I'd actually say that this kind of discrimination even worse, because outsiders don't think it's hurtful. They think they're complimenting you if they say that you look "adorable," because "adorable" is supposed to be something positive. But it isn't. Not in this case. People just don't understand that discrimination is still discrimination, no matter how you put it.

What makes it more challenging is that they don't listen to you when you tell them that you face issues as well. Petite discrimination is somehow dismissed, because height isn't something you can change without major surgery (I understand that some people need gastric bypass to lose weight, but that's supposed to be something done at last resort). So people don't think that it's as much of an issue. This is evidenced in the responses found on a video I posted up on YouTube last year. What makes it worse is that a lot of petites just don't really do much about it. Don't you think it's time that you said something too?