Tanya S Osensky

I found this book thought provoking. As a short female trial attorney, I previously attributed some of the bias and paternalism I experience regularly solely to gender bias. After reading this book and realizing taller females of my age and race and profession face less bias, it was unsettling, especially because it is taken so much less seriously than other forms of discrimination. I'm glad to know this is now on the radar and I would recommend this book to anyone looking to understand how being short can affect you.… (mere)

In Shortchanged, author Osensky appeals to readers to organize and speak out against heightism. She views heightism as a form of discrimination – perhaps the only form that is still socially acceptable. She bolsters her argument with information and statistics about things like growth hormone therapy for children and the wage gap between short people and tall people or people of average height. Osensky has assembled some interesting information, but she failed to persuade me that I should become an activist against heightism. Even if there is a bias against short people, I am skeptical that attempts at legal remedies would succeed. Correlation between height and earnings doesn't prove causation. I should note that, at just under 5'3'', I have always considered myself short. I shop in the petite section, and I almost always end up in the front row in group photos. According to Osensky, however, I am average, if not tall, for a woman. So, perhaps my failure to be persuaded by Osensky's argument is my own unacknowledged bias as an average/tall woman?

This review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.… (mere)