Size Matters

I confess: I've been wanting to give this title to a post for awhile but the, ahem, unintended pun(s)/associations have deterred me. But then I read about a study entitled "Does Size Matter in Australia?" in the July 13th Science Daily:

Taller men are able to earn more money than their shorter counterparts simply because taller people are perceived to be more intelligent and powerful, this according to a study published in The Economic Record by Wiley-Blackwell.

The study entitled "Does Size Matter in Australia?" uses newly available data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey to estimate the relationship between hourly wages and two aspects of body size: height and BMI.

It finds that taller people, particularly men, earn more money - with every five centimetres of height being worth about $950 per annum.

If the average man (178 centimeters; approx. 70 inches) were to gain "an additional five centimeters [just under two inches] in height, "he would be able to earn an extra $950 per year," according to study co-author Andrew Leigh.

Charlie, at 5 feet 6 inches (= 66 inches) is just about "average" (in Australia). So if he were to grow about six more inches (and be six feet tall), he'd make that "extra $950 per year"?

Things being as they are, I rather suspect not. Charlie's height (six inches of which he acquired in the past several months, starting in October of 2008) has made things more difficult for him rather than less. I'm 5 feet tall and still (true confession #2 in this post) get mistaken for a student. People see me jumping to retrieve an item from a top shelf and hasten over to get it for me. People see Charlie walking down the sidewalk and (is it my imagining? no, it is real) draw back. He's a bit bow-legged and (thanks largely to long bike rides like yesterday's 12-miler with Jim) he's got the muscles to show for his efforts.

But what if he were small and slight? And people thought he was his actual age or younger, rather than 15 (Charlie turned 12 in May). And when they hear Charlie's speech, which is not what is "expected" of a person his size, something like a frown, a sort of look of puzzlement, of consternation, passes over their faces. I hate to say it: They are fearful because of his size and because of who they perceive Charlie to be, and what they think he might do.

Of course appearances shouldn't determine what people think. Of course they do.

Size really does matter and it's not necessarily, as the study suggests, for the better. The one they call Mr. Big doesn't get called that for nothing.

Photo from jonnybaird via Flickr.