2013 and beyond

Thank you for your support for NOSSA - National Organization Of Short Statured Adults in 2012. We look forward to your continued support in 2013 and beyond. We will continue to serve as the voice for short statured people who are facing heightism and height discrimination and for other important issues facing short statured adults. We will be opening up our membership rolls once again in 2013. We have a few changes coming that will be announced shortly. We invite all our friends to share their thoughts with us on our websites and to continue to speak out against heightism.

Happy Holidays from NOSSA

The NOSSA - National Organization Of Short Statured Adults wishes you and your family a very happy holiday season. We hope that you will join in supporting our efforts to advocate on behalf of short statured adults throughout the world. Become a member or supporter of our group today. For more information please visit our website at www.nossaonline.org

Why I Decided to address heightism

Here is why I decided to address heightism. As I was growing up, I did the same thing many of us did and listened to people who said that I should "Try not to think about my height," or "try not to let it bother me." (Most of you here probably had to listen to similar nonsense.) Eventually, as I became a student of human nature and a confident person, I realized that people telling me not to think about or talk about a trait that constantly gets brought up about me, were depriving me of the chance to speak about my personal experience. Why should people who make hateful comments be given a pass on degrading me, while I was being told that I had something wrong with me if I took exception to such comments? Why was I being shunned for mentioning incidents that actually happened to me while the people who perpetrated these acts were given clemency? Why should people from almost every other marginalized group in society be praised for clearing obstacles, when I am expected to believe that I deserve to have obstacles in front of me because of a perceived "natural inferiority," on top of being expected to just accept such treatment by "knowing my place in the world?" How many times can I be expected to silently deal with the fact that my opinion would be disregarded in many conversations whether the topic is literature, sports, romance, etc because someone merely stated "Shut-up little man." The way the world expected me to just sit back and take such harsh discrimination while diagnosing me with a fake "complex" when I took exception to such treatment, defied every school of logic and common sense that I had adopted into my psyche. About a year or two ago, is when I finally started learning about and addressing heightism. How dare people tell me that I have no right to speak of my own experience and put labels on me that have nothing to do with who I am inside? Why am I expected to hold my head in shame while society views me as inferior no matter what I accomplish? Fighting heightism is very frustrating at times. Even a lot of our short brothers and sisters would prefer to just shelf the issue as if it doesn't exist. However, even though it's frustrating to address the issue, I can't find it in myself to stop. Anytime in life that you find something that frustrates you, yet you still want to keep pressing forward, you have found a wonderful outlet for your passion and an endeavor where you can carry the torch of progress. So essentially, that's why I'm here. I am very thankful for the chance to be part of this group and hope we can all help steer society's dialogue in a more productive direction. I also am looking forward to building friendships with other like-minded individuals

2013 Protest Cancelled

NOSSA is sorry to report that plans for the 2013 protest in Washington, D.C. have been cancelled. The reason for the cancellation is due to a lack of interest from the short statured community. We appreciate and thank the folks who did respond and were willing to participate. We hope to organize similar events in the future, however we need a minimum number of confirmed participants in order to host an event. We encourage our members and supporters to take an active role with the organization and our programs and events.

Post your height

Prejudice or Preference? - One man's opinion

I have been looking at the attitudes of many different types of women from different cultures regarding the preference versus prejudice debate and I am inclined to believe that this is prejudice (heightism). Dictionary.com defines "prefer" as "to set or hold before or above other persons or things in estimation; like better; choose rather than." Prejudice is defined as "An adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts." So we have to ask ourselves why do these women prefer tall men? What exactly influences them to favor tall men over short men? Many of these women who refuse to date short men have responded to these questions quite bluntly on social media websites such as twitter. Their answers reflect the seeds of prejudice...stereotypes about short men and prejudgments that are often inaccurate. For example, some claim that all short men have a "napoleon complex" and are angry and aggressive all the time; some women claim that tall men are smarter or nicer; Some women believe that tall men can protect them better than a short man; Others feel that a tall man makes them feel more feminine; This tendency to "prefer" tall men is based in its root in stereotypes and prejudiced beliefs. I think these women use the preference thing to justify themselves and make themselves feel as if there actions and beliefs towards short men are OK. Likewise, I think it is weightism for a short man to hold similar types of beliefs about overweight women. Of course people are free to be attracted to whomever they choose and for whatever reasons. But these people also ought not mislabel this phenomenon as "preference". It is "prejudice" that makes them feel the way that they do and this prejudice has a name.....heightism.

NOSSA 2013 Protest

NOSSA announces plans for 2013 protest in Washington, DC Click here to pre-register for this event!

Michael - Living with heightism

Statement about Joel Morales

The National Organization of Short Statured Adults would like to offer our sympathies to the family and friends of Joel Morales.

Joel took his own life on May 29, 2012 after repeatedly being bullied and harassed. Joel was short for his age and an intelligent young man; these are the reasons he was targeted.
Too many of our undersized children are often the victims of bullying but it continually goes unnoticed by the schools, society, the media and by the government.

Any child who is targeted deserves swift action by those in authority. Inactivity on the part of the school officials, parents, law enforcement and the media sends a message that bullying of certain children is more acceptable than others. These people have the responsibility to ensure that all children are safe in the schools and, until they actually enforce their no tolerance policies for bullying, there will sadly be more victims of this heinous, inhumane practice in our schools.

NOSSA demands that all children get equal protection from bullying; short kids shouldn't have to be expendable!

Real people against heightism

It is very important that we be willing to show our faces. We are not an underground movement. We are real people not just those 5,2, or 1 percenters. And if we want to change the future for younger people growing up in a world of heightism, and pointless hate we have to be willing to talk openly and honestly about who we are, and what we believe.

- Mike NOSSA Member

Join @ www.nossaonline.org

How attitudes turn to discrimination

What's wrong with prejudicial attitudes such as heightism?

Well these attitudes often lead to discrimination.

When a short statured person is bullied, rejected by peers and romantic interests, denied job opportunities, etc. there is a problem.

Heightism affects people's lives in negative ways. That is reason enough to discuss and challenge it when it surfaces.

It's us not them?

Twitter poster Shane @ SliimSHANEY spent the better part of May 27, 2012 trashing short men on the social networking site.

He posted:

@SLiimSHANEY: if you're 5'10 and shorter and a dude and you not in a circus being a midget or working with willy wonka, you have failed in life.

@SLiimSHANEY: the funniest thing to say to a dude who's short is simply, YOU'RE SO SHORT. n wait, for the reaction.. it's amazing. they hate that shit

@SLiimSHANEY: lil bitter angry dudes symptoms: they get mad very easily, they think they hard as fuck but will run away so fast,yell a lot, easily angered

@SLiimSHANEY: IF YOU'RE SHORTER THAN 5' 9 N YOU'RE A MAN, YOUR LIFE IS TRAGIC.

He was challenged by several short men on his hateful comments and his response:

@SLiimSHANEY: @MrDinBK @BJowersFLA yall are really taking this to seriously, it's ok that you're short. dont cry bout it in my mentions lmfao

@SLiimSHANEY: all his tweets are at random people who have made fun of short people..thats how serious short people syndrome is-> @BJowersFLA

@SLiimSHANEY: i've never seen a short dude so angry that he's short that he dedicated a twitter to defending short people till @BJowersFLA @'d me

@SLiimSHANEY: thats not activism , you're just short. RT: @BJowersFLA
You've never heard of activism or advocating for a cause, which is pretty sad.

@SLiimSHANEY: @BJowersFLA it was a joke, none of the other million short dudes took it seriously they're all comfortable with being short unlike you

A joke? Taking it too seriously?

Doesn't sound very funny to us. In fact it sounds downright hateful. This is heightism.

Evidence of heightism that nobody can deny

Twitter exposes heightism

Have a look at the continuous heightism posts that people have been publishing on their twitter feeds:

@IAmJaquansus: I really have a huge dislike for short people idk why.

@ary_yum: I hate short guys.

@KUSHsoRIGHT: It's just something in me that despises short guys. Shallow? I cares none.

@WendyKILLS: There's not much hope for you short dudes.

@OhMyKittyyy: I firmly believe short guys shouldn't be considered real men 😷 I'm sorry no offense

@ASS_TR0L0GY: short guys>>>>> can't be taken serious

@aIexanndra: short guys are the worst.

@itsbeckyparsons: Short men get caught under my feet #Pests.

@WillDavis0: I hate short people.. I will step on you

@boxlogoZebra: Some short people scare me but i know i could beat the hell out of them but they still scare me

@PaperPlaneLir: Short people should be stepping stools for taller people

@KendraDuPont: Ah, I don't see how people date shorter people than them. All short guys have little man syndrome. Thinking they are so tough & badass. LOL.

@DinaYMokbel: I hate short guys!!

This is just a very small sample of the heightism expressed on twitter.

Now if someone expressed these thoughts about black people, women, etc. people would be upset and condemn that type of behavior as racist or sexist. But what do they do most often when the hate is targeting short statured people? They laugh and/or do and say nothing!

Nossaonline.org

Bully Movie

The new movie Bully is now playing in select locations. Click here for more information! If you have a chance to see the film please tell us what you think about it @ forums.nossaonline.org or tweet us @nossaonline - Do you think enough is being done to combat bullying? Do you think bullying is a problem for smaller people?

Follow NOSSA on twitter

For the latest news from NOSSA - National Organization Of Short Statured Adults follow us on twitter @ https://twitter.com/#!/nossaonline

Are you listening Mr. Workman?

Florida State Representative Ritch Workman (R) - Melbourne wants to overturn a state ban on "dwarf tossing" with his bill HB 4063. Please contact Florida Representatives and tell them you do not support this dehumanizing bill.

NOSSA Documentary

NOSSA will release a new documentary about heightism in 2012. Please visit the NOSSA Website for the latest news about the film.