"I’ve been in denial about my height for many, many years because I was getting a lot of very subtle and not-so-subtle messages from the society in which I live that being short was not a desirable characteristic to possess".

Society perpetuates the idea, believes Michael Calwell, that short people are weak and undesirable (amongst other negative things) and because he didn't perceive those things in himself a conflict existed within him. Michael is 5'5", a height which psychologists have apparently determined would be the first thing that people would notice about him. He believes there's a stigma attached to being short. "People who possess that physiological characteristic are marked out and pigeon-holed for possessing it".

He believes that in the workplace and in relationships short people get a rough ride. Michael himself works in IT, and he felt that he was not listened to with as much attention because of his height. He also was given a derogatory nickname by one team with which he worked, which he felt was a factor in how much he was trusted and his opinion valued.

Michael eventually wrote an essay about his experiences, which he had published on a website. He put his email address in the essay and was surprised to receive floods of emails from men who had also experienced prejudice and discrimination simply on the basis of their height. "I felt, for many of these people, that it was the first time they'd actually had an opportunity to talk about it".

One of the things Michael discovered was that this kind of prejudice is largely an Anglo-American thing. He received an email, for example, from someone in Mexico who said that in his country people were not judged on the basis of their height. "We do have quite a preoccupation in our culture with inches - meeting that six-foot barrier - and that a man's basic essential worth is sometimes estimated by the number of inches above the ground his head is".

Michael feels that his confidence has increased since he adopted a more positive attitude to his height. He feels he is more self-assured as he has become more comfortable with who he is. He also feels that his own experience of being judged (and misjudged) on his appearance has made him more compassionate towards others.

If you would like to read Michael's essay click here.