Am I too tall?

[Anne2345]

Am I too tall?

I used to think I was. I was quite convinced of it, actually.

In fact, on this very forum, I have bitched about, ranted over, and railed against my six foot four body frame time and time again. I have moaned, groaned, and cried my head off over my tall height, for all the good it has done me.

And to those who tried to tell me otherwise, that perhaps my height was not the insurmountable obstacle I so believed it to be, if they were lucky, I simply turned my back, did not listen, and did not give them the time of day. If, however, they were not so lucky, I am sure I played the part of uber-jackhole probably a little too convincingly for everybody’s comfort and taste, but I digress.

Still, over the course of the past couple of years, I have stubbornly, obstinately, and with a copious amount of foolish pigheadedness downright refused to even acknowledge that maybe, just freaking maybe, my height does not equate to the end of my world after all.

All stultiloquent prattle, extraneous poppycock, and ignominious balderdash aside, I submit to this hallowed electronic colloquium that I no longer bath myself within such preposterously rattlebrained inanity.

Because the fact of the matter is that my height has yet to cause my world to end, nor will it do so in the future.

In other words, just as I have been on so many other occasions so many times before in this forum, I was wrong.

Just plain wrong. I see that now.

But it’s all good. It’s all cool.

I can dig it.

I can even get my swerve on, boogie down, and dance through the night.

It ain’t no biggie no more.

Seriously. And I really mean that.

You see, the thing is, I finally get it. I finally recognize the truth for what it really is.

I understand. I actually understand.

My height just does not matter.

There. I said it.

My height just doesn’t matter. At all.

What I have since learned and experienced has opened up my eyes in ways I never before could have imagined. My failure to comprehend a rather simple and basic tenet of life was my undoing, and a serious cause of my own frustration and consternation.

To be sure, though, I am tall. But so what? It doesn’t matter one bit. Or at least it doesn’t matter to me anymore.

It doesn’t matter because I own myself now.

I OWN myself.

I finally understand that I am responsible for me. I choose for me. I do for me. And if I fail in the face of this knowledge, if I fail to be the person I am meant to be, then that is on me, and only me.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that I have worked my complete ass off to further feminize my body by significantly reducing my dude-bulk by 50 pounds, from 225ish down to 175ish. It also doesn’t hurt that I have completely changed my diet, my eating habits, my drinking habits, and increased my workouts and exercise regimen. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that I am the healthiest I have been in years and years, that HRT is totally doing its thing, that I feel awesome, that I am chock full of energy, and that I feel quite proud of myself for turning my life around in such a positive and constructive manner.

Taking it all as a whole, the bottom line is that I now enjoy a certain amount of confidence that I have never experienced before, and I freaking love it!! I love it so much, in fact, that it completely feeds on itself, it reinforces itself, and it strengthens immeasurably and irrevocably my conviction.

The thing is, I am actually beginning to like me now, and to feel good about myself. I like very much these things that I am doing and accomplishing to better myself and my life.

I know these things to be right. I know these things to be real. And I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that I am on the right path.

So it’s all awesome possum neato burrito.

I’m one tall ass bitch, and there ain’t nothing any of y’all can do to stop me from taking it straight to the house against the world.

I’m just sayin’ . . . .

[Tami Monroe]

I have met many tall GG women. I guarantee you are not too tall.

[JohnH]

Some of us individuals on M2F HRT have experienced height reduction. Before going on HRT I was 5'10" (178 cm). Now it is 5'8 1/2" (174 cm).

Johanna Anna

[Inna]

I forgive you!

[Angela Campbell]

So if you were short what would you be unhappy with?

[GabbiSophia]

Being 6'6 this is nice to hear. I worry about sticking out as a sore thumb more than I already will.

[kimdl93]

stultiloquent prattle aside, and the matter of height put to rest, you must look amazing at 175!

[Carlene]

Nice to hear from you again...........wonderful, positive thoughts......thank you Anne

Carlene :daydreaming:.........hmmm, maybe unattrative doesn't matter so much either.

[Madilyn A.]

Great, very happy for your positive attitude. I am 6'4" and still feel plagued by my height.

[Jorja]

See Anne, told you so!:tongueout

We as people tend to capture every negative thing we ever heard and store it in a special little compartment inside our brains. It is cataloged, alphabetized, numbered, and color coded for instant retrieval the second an unusual thought passes through the control center of our brain. It is our job then to discern truth from fiction. This can often place us on a slippery slope but truth will win out every time.

[Laurie Ann]

I am not tall at 5'14" inches

[princessheather86]

My girlfriend is 6'2" and I've met many women who are taller. There is no "too tall," I believe.

[PretzelGirl]

I’m just sayin’ . . . .

Yes you are. There are other ladies here currently posting that are within a couple inches of your height and they are happy and beautiful. So I think you are just going to have to rock it along with them.

[Xrys]

I'm 6 3 And why i dont view my height as a blockade, i do find it to be a nuisance. I have to order pants on line as well as a few other things like jackets for my shoulders, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

[PaulaAnn]

Naw,doesn't bother me now.... used to bother me big time until I realized the world wasn't always looking at me.I'm 6' 3" and wear heels mostly.(2.5"). I have red hair as well so I tend to stand out a tad;but in the scheme of things ,who really cares.I do my own thing;live my life as I wish.
PaulaAnn

[Andy66]

Yay, Anne! :cheer:
Glad to see you being so positive. Height really is neither good nor bad, it just is what it is... unless youre a short model or a tall jockey of course. Haha!

[Michelle789]

I am 6 foot exactly, or 5 foot 12, however you wish to see it. I once met a TG woman who is 3 inches shorter than me, who actually said she wishes she was 6 foot tall.

[PaulaQ]

Being very tall is not that big of a deal. I was driving through the main drag here, and my GF and I noticed a very tall woman walking through the crowd between gay bars.

My friend asked: "Wow, she's tall, but I don't think she's trans."
Me: "no, she's definitely trans."
Friend: "No, seriously I don't think she is - I got a better look at her than you did, you are driving..."
Me: "No, she's definitely trans - I know her personally!"

Had I not known her, I wouldn't have known whether she was cis or trans either.

Being built like a linebacker or a lumberjack is actually a pretty serious problem - but even that can be overcome.

[Starling]

Half the women in the world are taller than average. Just don't try to look shorter, and you should be fine.

:) Lallie

[samantha rogers]

Great attitude, honey and your word play made me giggle.
I am six three and went thru a similar weight thing to get down to 165.
I worried about height for many years, and would have been so much happier so much sooner had I not done so.
Recently, having just complained to someone about how I would never pass, I was at a mall and saw a gorgeous gg with her family. She was easily my height barefoot. I was still digesting this fact when I turned around and almost bumped into a different but equally and very beautiful tall gg. That day I realized it just doesnt matter.
Right there with you, honey!
Tall girls unite!....tee hee
Hugs
Sammie

[LeaP]

Tall tranny transitions take terrible tolls.
All aspects appear appalling awhile.
Less lofty lasses like littleness.
Lengthy lasses look lanky.

Timely transition - terrific!
After all, advancing adulthood awaits.
Leave listless lingering.
Liberate limits, lest life lag!

Truth told, tall takes tenacity.
And actually, all aspects are appealing.
Long ladies literally lengthen loveliness.
Limitless leeway lends long lingering looks.

[GabbiSophia]

Puala I am built like a o lineman and i would love to know how to over come my big bones?

[Barbie Anne]

I'm 6'3" myself so I feel your pain. but I've gotten compliments on the way heels make my touchey and legs look because they're so long and thin. Make the best of it hon :)

[KellyJameson]

Tall women only have a problem being tall when they are not confident.

Beautiful women only have a problem being beautiful when they are not confident.

Big busted or small busted women only have a problem with bust size when they are not confident.

Stand in a dark room alone or close your eyes and run your hands up, starting at the ankles and end with making a ponytail of your hair.

Notice the smoothness of your skin. Notice the curvature of your breasts. Notice the absence of facial hair.

Leave your eyes behind and use your minds eye that knows how you should feel to the touch.

Your eyes will lie to you but touch requires a concentration that keeps you in the moment where truth lives.

Someday I suspect you will know this forcefully when all of you feels to the touch like a woman and you will know the feeling of having arrived home.

The mirror has its uses but running my hands over my body is what truly gives me reassurance that all is well.

Maybe someday I will stop doing this but for now I need this reassurance as if I fear I will awake and find myself back where I was.

[Sara Jessica]

It's easy to say when coming from a place south of 6' but you are still to be congratulated for owning your height. True, there's nothing you can do about it so you might as well embrace what you cannot change.

And try looking at it this way. Take out a ruler and measure off what it takes to take you south of 6'. 5" would bring you to 5'11". On the ruler that doesn't look so bad, does it? OK...I tried!!! :)




Some of us individuals on M2F HRT have experienced height reduction. Before going on HRT I was 5'10" (178 cm). Now it is 5'8 1/2" (174 cm).

Johanna

Really? I'm surprised no one has called this out yet. A person's height is a function of your skeletal frame as well as disc space. People shrink all the time as they age, whether it is due to disc space narrowing, hunching over or both. All the HRT in the world won't make our bones smaller.

[Ann Louise]

I'm 5' 10" and from time to time, especially in downtown Seattle, I feel rather tall compared to the other women around me. But as has been said above, there are many, many tall genetic women, and when I see someone as tall or taller than me, I click into fashion gear and check out how they're dressed, from top to bottom.

Stay away from the 4" heels and you'll be fine honey! Ann

[Kali]

Of all of the myriad of things I have worried about, my height (6'4") has never been one of them. There is nothing that can be done about it, and as my wife says, just own it. And I do.

[Barbara Ella]

Kelly called it out exactly. You are only too tall if/when you can't pull it off. (OK, make your own play on words there).

Confidence and attitude carry the day.

You Anne dear have an abundance of both. So, you will have no worry just maintain your straight ahead, take em on, kick em in the balls approach to life and i have a hunch you may be too short for yourself.

Hugs,

Barbara

[Christina Sevilla]

I'm 5'4" and would not mind gaining a few more inches in height and have longer legs.

[becky77]

My height has been my biggest hangup my entire life, it has always felt unatural even when I didn't understand why. I'm 6' and I know I stand out, i'm well aware there are tall woman everywhere but i'm taller than the average man too. Often it feels like I have enough issues in my life, would it have been so difficult to have been a decent height. I know I can't change it, I know I should own it but it still hurts me.
It's not even that i'm taller than other people, it's that for reasons I can't explain looking down at people has always felt wrong. If i'm around really tall guys for example that just feels natural?
It's a feeling deep inside that I have always had before It ever occured to me about any need to be passable etc.
I try concentrate on what positives I do have, I know my face is more feminine than many and I am quite slender, I try hold on to these.
I'm yet to transition at work, being a new role I need to settle in first before giving them the big news, however its getting harder and harder each day, as I am fulltime everywhere but work. So the strange thing is my height issues etc, only eat away at me while im at work playing the guy role, nearly all my anxiety and insecurites melt away when I can be myself again and the longer that is, the calmer and more sure I am.
Living these two lives currently, hard as it is, has shown me that the root of most of our problems lie in the fact we are out of sync with who we should be. I do believe now, when I can finally go fulltime all these self issues will slowly fade away, even the height one!
I'm sure some might say well at 6' your ok, hardly 6'4-6, yes and I truly feel for you, but we each have our own demons to slay.
I have realised now though, what seemed like insurmountable, life changing problems are becoming just mere hangups of which every woman up and down the country suffers from. Very tall woman also suffer hangups over their height, they like us learn to deal with it.

[Aprilrain]

OMG, Kali!!! How silly I have been!! :straightface:

What's with the attitude Anne? Give Kali a break, she's just trying to be friendly and supportive.

[Anne2345]

No, Kali. I did not take your response as a personal attack.

But I will admit that your response struck me as quite insensitive, somewhat crass, and rather devoid of any and all tact.

To some of us here, whether right or wrong, the issue of being tall presents a very serious, difficult, onerous, and formidable challenge and obstacle to internally overcome and come to terms with.

Read some of my past posts how about how I railed against my height, and therefore myself. Read some of the responses from some other tall members here in those posts. Or simply read some of the responses from some of the members here in THIS thread that feel challenged by the issue. It's a very real issue, and it can be quite debilitating if one allows it to become so. I know this because of have let it get to me in the past, and let me tell you, just like any other negatively self-perceived trait, it can be awful.

Read, for example, Kelly Jameson's outstanding, brilliant response in this thread.

So that you have not experienced these negative feelings about yourself on this issue - that's great! I'm happy for you!!

But what, really, was the point of your post? All you did was proclaim that you are six foot four, c'est la vie, so you're good with it. Which, again, is super mega-awesome cool for you. How does that help me, though? How does that help others that suffer from the same insecurities on their height that used to plagued me? If anything, and perhaps I am way off base here, and if I so I apologize, your proclamation makes it even worse for me. As if I am completely silly for allowing this to eat my up. As if the answer is so simple and so easy that even a caveman could figure it out.

I mean, really, would you go to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and just randomly, out of the blue, without more, inform the group that you can drink responsibly and under control, so it's no big deal for you??! No, you wouldn't do that, because you're not a shitty person like that. And I don't believe you are a shitty person at all. But your response was seriously lacking, and served only to rub salt in the wound (however unintentional it was).

And maybe I'm just way oversensitive here. Maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about. Or maybe I am completely wrong in my assessment of everything here. Regardless, it's what I think and how I feel.

[Kaitlyn Michele]

Sometimes it seems to me posts are gratuitous...

I pass, not an issue for me!!!
I don't care if I pass, not an issue for me!!!

My wife loves me and stayed with me, not an issue for me!!!

The worst ones relate to things like health
"oh so you are depressed?? just pick yourself up!!! I get down sometimes!!! i don't take that terrible medicine!!Look on the bright side...tee hee...:)"

"oh you are concerned with your health and HRT?? I had no issues !! yay for me!!"
well la dee freaking da....

I felt, like Anne, that my height was an overwhelming problem.. I ended up trying to be very pragmatic about it... accepting transition was real was the first step...
My therapist advised me to simply go out and experience my height in the context of presenting myself as Kaitlyn. I thought, this is happening..there is no other way.
(I even tried to wear heels!!! and in my very first real shopping mall trip I fell right as I walked in the door to macys..it couldn't have started worse!!)
It might totally suck and it may actually knock you back a couple pegs if the experience is bad, but as we both know retreat is not an option and you'll have to regroup and get out there again..

You may even go through a period that challenges your transition. You may feel you can't do it. If that's how it plays out, then you may have to really step back.. you are trying to improve your quality of life..if going out and feeling too tall all the time doesn't improve your quality of life then it makes sense to step back.. you have to compare that feeling to all the other feelings and make a choice.. its a crappy choice..

Being really tall is a challenge for some (many?) ts women...its possible to overcome it but some people cant ..
One thing I can assure you is if you go out 100 times...your height will not be an "unknown" issue anymore.... you will experience it differently, and you will know how you feel about it.....and you will hopefully use that knowledge to deal with the "known" issue

[Anne2345]

Okay, a few of my friends have called me out on this, and rightfully so.

To Kali - I apologize for my reaction to your well-intentioned response. I took it the wrong way, I overreacted, and I wrongfully attempted to turn it into to something it was not intended to be. And that's totally my bad, and it's on me.

As for the rest of y'all - I apologize to you, too. My OP, and this thread, was intended to be a positive post that evidences that hard work, effort, experience, and a dedicated, determined, and motivated mind-set can pay off with positive dividends.

For those of you that know me, you know I can be my own worst enemy at times, and this is yet another example of me sticking foot in mouth. D'oh!!

Regardless, it is extremely important to me that I be positive. And the fact of the matter is that I feel the best I have perhaps ever felt about myself, and I feel positive and confident about *me* in a way I have never experienced before, and it feels great!! I do not want to lose that, nor do I believe I will.

But still, even though I believe myself to currently be quite stable, and the most stable of have been in years, this experience of positive well-being remains yet but only newly-charted, if that makes any sense at all.

In any event, the OP exhibits an extreme and healthy departure from my previously negative view point, and it is a departure that I am very much proud of for accomplishing. As such, it was not my intent to diminish that in any way.

Sooooooo, now that I have completely wasted everybody's time with this ridiculously and overly-long post, I also just generally apologize to any who care to listen for having a shitty moment and taking it out on someone who did not deserve it.

Hugs, kisses, peace, butterflies, flowers, unicorns, and chocolate! ❤️

[becky77]

Ha ha, I get you Anne. Don't worry I see where your coming from, it's actually a good thread showing that you can move on and grow in confidence, despite whatever crap you have been dealt. As for any unnecessary outbursts just blame the hormones!
Dealing with my own personal hurdles, some of which are life long (of which I am really coping with now), would hurt me too if someone just brushed it aside as nothing. But I don't see the comment as having any malice just a little flippancy.

[kimdl93]

Anne,don't feel you need to apologize. Sometimes it's easy to say way more than one means in a lengthy post. At times I say too little.

[Kathryn Martin]

When I sit I am as tall as about 50% of everyone around me, I am average. When I stand up, I am taller than 95% of everyone around me and 99.9 % of the women. Then I wear heels and I am 6'6". Two days ago I told a woman whom I met at a resort in Cuba and who told me I had the most amazing legs, "clear up to your armpits" "beautifully toned" that I was 6'3" and that was not nice. She said tall girls have it harder..... and I agreed. I will never kiss a guy who is taller than me except our 23 year old IT guy on the cheek when he comes and kisses both my cheeks. Her husband asked: "you must have played basketball when you were a young girl" and a whispered: "yes" and blushed.....

[Starling]

(I even tried to wear heels!!! and in my very first real shopping mall trip I fell right as I walked in the door to macys..it couldn't have started worse!!)

I began wearing heels around the house fifty years ago, and got pretty skilled at it--sprained an ankle only once. Per year. Each. Unfortunately, now that I often present as a woman, I can't wear heels anymore, because they hurt my feet too effing much. Not an issue for me!!!

(You're funny, KM, especially when you're right.)

:) Lallie

[Carlene]

It was a great post Anne. Many here are hurting in some way and there is no better medicine than to read how this journey has helped one of us to feel more content and complete. I'm so happy to witness (albeit at a distance) your inner transformation.

Carlene

[Kali]

I'm sorry if I came across as insensitive; that wasn't my intent. And thank you for your response.

My point was that there are so many things that need to be done that I can actually do something about, and I guess I was lucky in recognizing quickly that my height was one of those things that I cannot change, and accepting that. It was in no way meant to minimize what you have gone through.

[tori-e]

Really? I'm surprised no one has called this out yet. A person's height is a function of your skeletal frame as well as disc space. People shrink all the time as they age, whether it is due to disc space narrowing, hunching over or both. All the HRT in the world won't make our bones smaller.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I have wondered though if you are post-op and not taking estrogen if you might lose height due to Osteoporosis.

[Starling]

Would osteoporosis evidence itself by a noticeable rounding of the back, or is it more subtle than that? I understand that with age the discs get thinner, but do the vertebrae themselves do the same, with or without osteopo?

:) Lallie

[mechamoose]

I see your question in two modes.

One is acceptance, and one is comfort.

I think your initial question is a 'comfort' one. You want to feel 'normal'.

Acceptance in our girl modes is a different thing.

One is ourselves, one is society.

Just recognize the difference, and that will make the day-to-day stuff easier.

<3

- MM

[tori-e]

Would osteoporosis evidence itself by a noticeable rounding of the back, or is it more subtle than that? I understand that with age the discs get thinner, but do the vertebrae themselves do the same, with or without osteopo?

I'm no expert. Take a look at the photo on the wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteoporosis
Note the "classical Dowager's hump". Yikes! :eek:

[Michelle789]

You don't want osteoporosis. I'd gladly be a 6 foot tall girl who is healthy rather than a short girl with osteoporosis.

[EnglishRose]

I'm 6'6 and have seen some cis (maybe? :) ) women as tall as me.