Does This Type of Tall Woman Have It HARDER? | When Tall Doesn’t Fit The “Ideal Look”

Existing as a tall woman can be difficult at times. Okay, I'm making it seem like being a tall woman sucks, but I mean, okay, it does suck at times, but overall it's a beautiful experience. Truthfully, there are so many things to love about being a tall girly. However, I'm not gonna lie to y'all. There are other features in addition to our height that often play a role in our unique experiences that negatively affect us. For example, I did an episode discussing the unique struggles tall black women face based on different stereotypes like aggressive, intimidating. Essentially, how being black makes them associated with those stereotypes and being tall kind of doubles down on those stereotypes, if you get what I mean. And now it's been brought to my attention that tall plus sized women have their own unique set of struggles, from clothes to being on the receiving end of aggressive behaviors to over sexualization. The tall plus sized girlies are going through it. And in today's episode, we're gonna dive a little bit deeper into this and how all the tall plus sized girlies are feeling a bit excluded. So let's get into it. Good morning everybody. You are currently listening to a Tall Girls podcast hosted by a tall girl named India. I hope everyone who's tuning in today is doing super fantastic. Before I get into this episode, I do want to say, make sure you're following me on my socials at a Tall Girls podcast, on Instagram, TikTok, and picture so that you can stay up to date on all of the latest podcast episodes and catch a glimpse of my everyday life. Also, feel free to leave me a review and let me know how tall you are. I'm genuinely curious. I also have a monthly newsletter, make sure you subscribe to that. Everything is going to be linked in the description. Listen, this is a very niche podcast. I know, because we're basically talking about being a tall woman, and it's not like, Okay, there are like millions of us or is it like only one million at least like in the US, I don't know, but in comparison to other people of other heights, there's truthfully not that many of us. So I know that this is a very niche podcast already, but today we're going to get even nicher or more niche. Which one is it Is it even correct to use that, I don't know, but I think it's very interesting to talk about the different categories or subcategories when it comes to being tall, for example, being a tall and black woman, and basically how being tall and black as a woman has affected our lives and how people perceive us and so forth. And over the past few years, I've received a couple comments underlag reels and social media posts and videos and stuff basically discussing the struggles of tall and plus sized women. And I think it's time that we acknowledge those struggles. But first let's actually discuss what it means to be plus sized. So, according to Google, being plus sized means having a body size that requires clothing from a specific plus size range, which typically starts at a US size fourteen and up. The term describes clothing not necessarily wait but generally refers to people whose body measurements exceed the standard size and used for missy or straight sizes. And I do want to say right out the bat that plus sized women come in different shapes and sizes. So basically, how one plus sized woman looks like, how her body looks is going to be unique. Is going to be different from how another plus sized women's body looks. Let's listen to this clip really quickly, just for clarification to really understand what being plus sized means. Let's clarify what plus size means, because it seems like a lot of people don't really know. When you go into a store, usually there are going to be sizes maybe US zero through twelve or fourteen. Anything above that is plus size. Anything that you have to go to a special store to get a significant amount of the time is going to be plus size, or anything that's sold as plus size. So for example, a store like Torrid, they sell clothes that are plus sized. Sometimes somebody cannot technically be plus sized because they do not wear plus sized clothing. Their body is actually smaller than plus size, But because of how they carry their weight, for example, if they have a rounder, fuller face, if they are very top heavy and not an hourglass shape, they may come across to people as like bigger than average, even though they might not actually be literally bigger than average, they still might just be like fatter or chubbier or fleshier, whatever term you like. To use for that. So in that kind of case, I think a lot of people aren't really comfortable saying fat, but they feel like plus size is a more polite or appropriate term, so they will call that person plus size, even though that's actually not really accurate. So, now that we understand what being plus size means, and I'm hoping that we all know what it means to be tall as a woman aka like five nine and up. But listen, that's just my opinion. But now that we know what it means to be plus sized and what it means to be tall as a woman, are there any tall plus sized girlies watching this? I know, by the way, drop a comment so that you can connect with other tall plus sized girlies. But what have your experiences been like being tall and plus sized? Some of the tall plus sized girlies on TikTok have actually shared some of their lived experiences, some good and uplifting and also the struggles and frustrations. Let's listen to a few of these experiences and you can let me know if you resonate with any of them. If you ever took your pounds and you're a girl and you're tall, we gotta talk. It's one thing to exist in a bigger body, right, But when you're tall and you exist in a bigger body, you feel like a giant. Now I'm not saying that being tall is bad. I actually love being tall. I'm like almost six foot tall, right, I love it. I feel like my tallness like evens out my weight. I love it. Don't get me wrong, but I will always feel like a giant in any room I going. Even when I've lost weight, I still felt huge just because I was always the tallest girl in the room. Even if you're next to someone who weighs the same as you but they're shorter, you still feel bigger than them. I can't explain it. And if you're tall, you just know. Not only am I fat, I am tall and fat I am five ten. I have always towered over all of my peers, adding to my own feeling of feeling like an outcast. Not only did I feel like an outcast because I was noticeably taller than everyone else in the room, I had the apron belly that no one else had, and then I had a flat butt and skinny thighs. I have always felt like an outcast because of the way that I look and shopping for this body type in the past, especially as a teenager was so challenging because even if I did happen to find jeans that my belly and my legs angels jeans, thank you for being there for me, then the knee area where your knees go, We're in the wrong place. And that just also felt super uncomfortable. I feel like I've had ill fitting clothes for my entire life, no matter what I do, because not only do I have a unique body shape that no one is making clothes for, I'm also broad shoulders I always have been. I've got big. Breasts, and honestly, I have just never felt like I fit in because of my body shape, my height, and if you look at me in pictures next to my shorter friends, I just stand out like a sore thumb. Now, one of the biggest struggles that many tall plus sized women face is clothing, right, and that is something that I've received a lot of comments on about how it's hard to find clothing that's made like long enough for our long limbs, but also made specifically for plus sized women as well, catering to their proportions and whatever their needs are when it comes to clothing, and I think, and I think a big reason for that is because many major retailers focus on when it comes to their inclusive sizing, they focus either on tall or plus size, but not both together. Do you like? Okay, I'm gonna explain it a little bit. So basically, in a major retailer that has like more inclusive sizing, let's say, for their regular average sizes, their average head girlies, when it comes to like pants, jackets, et cetera, whatever, they typically have like, let's say, an extra extra small all the way up to maybe like a three or four XCEL. However, when they have tall sizing, they typically have I honestly, personally have never seen an extra extra small in tall. I barely see an extra small intell. But we're gonna say, and they're tall sizing, they may have like an extra small to a large, maybe an extra large if you're lucky, but they don't really go beyond a larger extra large. And who knows why that's the case. Maybe they think that is too expensive to go past a large or extra large, maybe they don't think there's enough demand for that. But truthfully, having tall sizing for women is already fairly niche, Like a lot of brands already think that, you know, there's not enough of us out there to cater to, or we're not important enough to cater to when it comes to clothing. So it's already pretty niche as is, so them being tall and plus size while we're at it, they may think that, oh, we're kind of pushing it. Being tall and plus size is even more niche, so they're less likely to cater to that, and this often makes tall plus sized women feel excluded in the fashion industry, especially because they also want the trendy pieces. They also want the key pieces that the other girlies are wearing, but because it's not available in their size, they have to resort to probably blander uglier clothes that sounds so bad to say, but it is what it is, or things that aren't really their style because they have to find something in their size. Let's listen to this clip really quickly. It is so difficult. Although I love it, it is super difficult being a six foot two, curvy plus sized woman because you legit cannot go into a store and think you're just gonna find pants and coats and cute that fits you. Today's my off days. So I was feeling like, oh, let me pop out, have a little today for myself, take myself to go eat, you know, get my nails done, and stop out of my own pick up some things. And I didn't find not one thing. I went into this mall that has a plethora of stores, I didn't come out with not one item. Now, I'm not gonna get emotional just because I have been dealing with this since I was a shorty, Like since I was in middle school, I've been dealing with not being able to find clothes long enough to fit me. And when I was young, it was trying to find clothes that were long enough or were also just like age appropriate for me. But I must say, although you know, I'm a very confident woman, going into stores and not finding things that fit you can really really eat at your confidence. Finding clothes as a tall girly is already hard enough, but being tall and plus sized as a whole extra layer of difficulty. So where are the tall plus sized girlies getting their clothes from these days? And I'm not talking about the ugly stuff either. Yeah, so clothes is definitely a big struggle. And now we also have to talk about the treatment of tall plus sized women because honestly, the treatment of tall women is already like very interesting. So it's kind of a thing of does being a tall plus sized woman make you more susceptible to It's too early, it's a Saturday morning. I don't even know if I'm using this word correctly, but it's being plus sized while also being tall. Does it make it more likely for certain things to happen to you, certain actions, certain behaviors to happen to you versus someone who was not tall and plusized. In a nutshell, yes, it can definitely make you more likely to certain forms of judgment and certain actions and behaviors and so forth. Let's listen to this example really quickly. This is a conversation for like my plus sized tall baddies, Like if you're not over like five seven and you're not like thick, gulss it out. But I feel like, Okay, there's this crisis that I'm facing growing up, being like taller than most of like the guys in my grade and whatnot, and just bigger in general. I just feel like there's this masculinity that's been placed like thrust upon me actually, that it's like, oh, you're tall, you're big, you must be strong, I have no upper body strength. I've none, actually, and then it's just like I feel like, you know, I was a tomboy growing up. Then I kind of like had to force this femininity upon myself so people wouldn't think just because I'm like five eight five nine and I'm huge, that I'm like, we're masculine. And when I don't think that I am. I don't know, but it's just like over time now I've become like my favorite color is pink. I love makeup and glitter and all acute girly things. Now when people tell me that like, oh, I'm soft, delicate, or like kind of describe me in a way that makes me seem more feminine, I get a little offended because I'm just like, oh, I'm not soft. I'm actually strong and I can I have masculine traits. Like it's very weird. It's like I have this like very self conflicting thing between the masculine and feminine aspects of myself because of I guess how like society has tried to define me because of how I present physically, like being tall and thick and whatnot. I don't know, like is anyone else experiencing but oftentimes when you're tall as a woman, you know, people already associate you with masculinity because height equals masculinity. The more height you have, the more masculine someone may perceive you as. So when you add being plus size to the mix, it kind of adds to that masculinity that people perceive you as, if that makes sense. So I want to say it kind of like doubles down on that, especially because you know, overall you're already pretty large. So then when you appear even larger to somebody else that's pretty that can be pretty intimidating to some people. Some people may view a tall plus sized woman as more intimidating or even stronger, meaning they're more likely to handle things, whether it's like physical labor and making them do more physical labor, or they're able to handle more harsh treatment and criticism and so forth, and even bullying and so forth and so on, and that can play a big role in aggressive behaviors towards tall women. Aggressive behaviors towards tall plus sized women that can even play a role in the workplace, that can even play a role in dating and so forth. One thing that isn't spoken about enough when it comes to being a tall girl is being sexualized at a young age, especially if you have a little bit of weight on you. It can be a confusing experience that affects your confidence and how you see your body for years to come. Sometimes you may hear things like, oh, you look grown. You shouldn't be wearing that at your age, you have such a figure, etc. Young tall plus sized girlies are often seen as more mature than they actually are because society links height and curves with not only being an adult, but also with sexuality, and so this combination can trigger and I'm not saying it in a way that it's like that young tall plus size girl's fault, because it's not her fault. It's the adults like augh, but whatever, Well it's not whatever, but you know what I mean. But that combination of size and height often leads to different comments and behaviors that can cause young tall plus sized girls to feel self conscious or even in or even uncomfortable. Now, I don't like pinning people or body types against each other. However, I do want to ask is being tall and slim easier than being tall and plus size as a woman. Let's talk about it. I will say this to a degree in certain areas, yes, it can be easier for with clothes. For example, you know, being tall and slim, that means that you're likely maybe a small, a medium, maybe even a large, And so when it comes to finding clothes, it's easier to find clothing in your size as a tall woman compared to tall women who are maybe a size fourteen, maybe a size sixteen and up. And I personally think that that's the case because you know, major retailers when they're thinking of making tall clothing, if they choose to do that, you know, the weight kind of like distributes, you know, so they think that because you're tall, you're more likely to be on the slimmer side, because you know, more lengthier weight distributes differently, or your weight distributes more, so you're not likely to be plus sized. I don't know, maybe that could be their thinking. You can let me know if you agree with that. But when it comes to finding clothes, it is easier when you're tall and slim. And then on top of that, like being tall and slimmer is considered the standard of beauty, depending it depends, because like I argue that when people think of tall and slim. They think like five seven, five eight, maybe five', nine whereas somebody like me is thinking like five maybe five, ten five, eleven six feet, up you know WHAT i. Mean so the whole standard of beauty thing is really dependent on culture and. Region there are so many other layers and. Factors so WHAT i want to say is that for the tall plus sized, girlies they may have it. Harder and, Listen i'm not tall and plus size, myself SO i am not necessarily speaking on. Experiences i'm just speaking on some of the things That i've found or like the research and so forth That i've done for this. Episode in like the more physical functional, way like, clothes maybe like spaces like planes and cars and. Stuff it can be difficult in other, AREAS i would definitely, say especially when it comes to like treatment and aggression from other people and so. Forth the tall girlies across the board have similar, EXPERIENCES i will say, that But i'm definitely very curious to hear what your thoughts are on, that especially if you're a tall plus size girly watching. This let me know what your thoughts are on, that and let me know like what your experiences are either in the comments or you can send me A. Dm but all in, all we all have very unique, experiences and whether it's being tall and, black tall and plus, size maybe even tall and. Queer SHOULD i do an episode on that being tall and, queer you guys can let me, know BECAUSE i think it's really spoken about enough, either but also being tall and, queer all of, that it's like we have similar experiences in different. Ways we have similar aggressive behaviors and, judgment but we experience that in different ways from different types of people and so. Forth SO i just personally think that across the, board the tall girlies just struggle with very similar. Things and being tall and plus sized as a woman doesn't make you any less of a. Woman it doesn't take away from your, Femininity it doesn't take away from the fact that you're a human being with feelings and so, forth it doesn't at. All, okay as long as we're all respectful towards each other and as long as we're all loving our bodies in very healthy, ways we're all gonna be. Good we're all gonna be. Okay, Okay justice for the tall plus sized, girlies especially when it comes to, clothing because, y'all they need to do. More first of, all they need to do more and, general but they need to do, more especially for you guys. Too but, yeah ALL i want to say is treat each other with love and. Kindness. Period WHEN i was scrolling through TikTok looking for tall plus sized women's, EXPERIENCES i saw the, trend you, know When Taylor switch was singing about, yeah like feeling like a monster on a hill or, whatever and the tall girlies did that as a. TREND a lot of the tall plus sized girlies did that as a trend, too showing them next to their, petite, slimmer shorter friends and how they basically feel like the odd one now and feel like a big. Monster and ALL i want to say to that, is you guys are freaking. Stunning like, honestly a lot of you guys just show up with such. Confidence there's so many tall plus sized girlies on the, apps On, instagram on TikTok that just show up with confidence and it radiates and it shows And i'm just sitting here, like, yeah you that, girl, period get. It SO i just want to say that just, because AS i, say with any type of tall, girl because you are you may seem bigger than your shorter. Friends that doesn't mean that you are not. Beautiful it doesn't mean that you are not. Amazing you guys, are especially when you walk with. Confidence confidence is like literally ninety nine point nine percent of beauty in my personal, opinion having. Confidence so, Yeah i'm gonna end the episode. Here thank you so much for tuning. IN i really appreciate, it AND i appreciate you of. Course as, always feel free to hit me up with my socials and let me know what you thought about this. Episode if you're a tall plus sized girly watching this right, now let's let's hear some of your experiences and even some advice on how you got past that and so. Forth let's connect with each other in the, Comments let's connect with each other in the. Dms that's the whole point of this, podcast for the tall girlies to unite and connect with each. Other but, yeah even like with the whole clothing, situation do you also think that that's one of the biggest struggles of being a tall plus sized. Woman let me. Know i'm genuinely, curious and until, THEN i will catch you in the next. One Good night and. Goodbye