Features Editor

In life’s everyday garden, sometimes all we want is to blend in with the rest of the gardenias, tulips, violets and daisies; however, if you were born a sunflower – a woman 5’6” and above – then you’ve realized that towering over the other flowers doesn’t count as blending in.

It can be awkward being the only sunflower in the greenhouse. You may feel like the other flowers are judging you, curiously pondering why your stems tower above theirs. Add heels to those stems and you’re getting asked how the weather is up there.
If you haven’t caught on yet, I’m saying that being a tall woman is pretty odd. As a 5’8” sunflower, there have been times when I feel like a giant. It doesn’t help when almost all of my friends range between 5’2” and 5’4”. They can wear heels while I stick with flats and I’ll still look like a giraffe looming over them.
Let’s face it. Short guys go for short girls. Tall guys go for short girls. And what do tall girls get out of this? Cats, mostly.
However, sunflowers, there are perks.

Looking Sassier than Average.

A common complaint of being tall is that clothes fit differently. Dresses that should be an appropriate length for other people barely cover your butt. When you wear shorts or skirts, people judge you and think it’s slutty when in fact your legs are just long. Jeans usually have to be long so that they cover your ankles and don’t look like high-waters.
Despite the fact that you have to take some extra care to find bigger sizes just to make sure you’re covered, you may be surprised to know that clothes fit your frame like they’re supposed to. That’s why tall women are fashion models. Clothes drape over a longer frame much better than they would over a short frame. Your curves and lines are being highlighted in all the right places.

You Don’t Want to Mess With a Tall Person.

You are tired of all the tall girl assumptions: People asking how tall your parents are, assuming they have to be skyscrapers to have given birth to a giantess like you. You also have to continuously explain why you don’t play basketball because no matter how you look it at, people are looking at you, judging you. And they, for some reason, want to tell you, “You’re tall” as if you’re totally unaware.
But being judged can be positive. People are naturally more intimidated by someone who is taller than them. A tall woman is less likely to need to fend off an attacker because he would much rather go for a smaller victim. Show the world you’re tall and are not going to be easily overpowered by your typical 5’9” male perpetrator. (Yes, studies have shown that this is the average height of male attackers).

Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger.

We have to suffer through so many awkward moments such as someone assuming you’re playing footsies with him when in reality your legs just don’t fit under the desk. We hit our heads on the top of little cars. We often find ourselves battling our blankets, struggling to decide whether we want to cover our feet or our arms because the damn thing won’t stretch enough. Then there’s those awkward boob-to-face hugs. Everybody is all up in your cleavage during embraces. Isn’t it enough that you have to constantly duck for fear of getting bitch-slapped by tree branches?
You’re worried to tell people how much you weigh for fear they won’t take your height into consideration and look at you like, “Where do you put it all?” This shouldn’t be looked at as a bad thing. Instead, you should extend that long arm of yours to give yourself a pat on the back. Being vertically blessed means that we can hide our weight so much better than our short friends. We also have more muscle mass just because our bodies are elongated. There was even a study which proved that those with longer legs live longer and have healthier lives.

Love Your Height. Others do.

Sometimes we feel “big” or “masculine” because we’re taller than most guys. There’s always that heartbreaking moment when you spot a super hottie from afar, go in for a closer look and then realize you’ve got him by a few inches at least. It’s totally impossible to find a boyfriend taller than you, and yet all of your short friends somehow managed to meet the six footers.
It can be endlessly frustrating to quest for your soul mate, someone who’s supposed to fit all this random criteria you’ve made up in your head for looks and personality, when you have to consider height too. However, remember I mentioned earlier that tall people are more noticeable. That being said, there is hope for us.
Being tall isn’t something to feel awkward about or ashamed of. Don’t hunch. Be proud of your height. It makes you unique from everyone else.
Go out into the world, sunflowers. Stretch those beautiful stems and petals out to the sun and be proud of your glorious height!