"You're too tall!" constructing the tall girl.

• Main Author: Leo, Sin Hwee.
• Other Authors: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology::Social institutions
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/51657
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This study explores the topic on body stature that has been largely ignored in earlier sociological debates on the body. Primarily, it examines how height is not a mere biological attribute, rather a social construct. Further, the ways certain categories of height and gender are articulated and considered ‘normal’ have particular consequences for people who cannot help but live outside those normalized articulations. The study inculcates concepts inspired by Goffman and Butler in revealing the repertoire of repetitive encounters through which female tallness is discredited as non-normative bodies. The conceptual framework of this study was built from the grounded theory methodology to highlight the ways in which female tallness become produced, managed, and experienced as a minor bodily stigma across various domains of everyday life. These insights shed light on the implication of cultural ideals onto women’s body and agency in the post-industrial societies.