Too Tall for a Woman?

The biggest worry for tall girls is not sexist men but little women....the female point of view!

By the time the unnamed source was talking to a tabloid the words were no longer being minced. Her fatal flaw was being "too tall". It was further alleged that she lacked "gravitas", and, in her years as a leading lawyer, wore high heels in court.

Wearing high heels in court. As the late Kenny Everett might have said, "Darling, doesn't everybody?" Denise Kingsmill, CBE and a Girton graduate, is 5ft 11in and has sufficient personal elegance to have stood in front of a camera for money to help finance her studies. This should not bar her from any occupation - except perhaps breaking in Shetland ponies.

When have we ever heard a man being described as "too tall" for a job? John Cleese too tall to be a comedian? George Clooney too tall to be an actor? Andrew Motion too tall to be poet laureate? Sir George Young too tall to follow in Betty Boothroyd's footsteps? Peter the Great too tall to be Czar of Russia?

Setting aside the ridiculous sexism of suggesting that a woman needs to be short, boring and badly dressed to be a successful public servant, this is evidence of a bizarre but familiar phenomenon. Having been a tall woman all my life, I claim special insight.

I bet the anonymous sniper was another woman, since, in my experience, men respond positively to tall women - short men especially. Many men, on meeting a woman they can look up to, are reminded of the story of the first encounter of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, at which she murmured, "I'm afraid I'm a little tall for you, Mr Tracy," and he growled in reply, "Don't worry, I'll soon cut you down to my size." After which they contracted one of Hollywood's greatest love affairs.

A meeting between a tall woman and a man often has the sparkle of sexual challenge. "Hmm," says the male to himself, "I bet she's not so tall lying down." The female catches that speculative look in his eye and takes her cue for a little banter in the style of Shakespeare's better heroines.

When a tall woman meets a short woman, however, she really has to watch her back. Or at least the backs of her knees. Jealousy comes in little packets.

The truth is that tall women like being tall. It's simply an unfair advantage, just as it is among men. A tall woman has presence, authority and the option of being witty, gracious or even intimidating as the occasion demands.

People assume that a tall woman is fearless and brilliant. Even if you assure them that you're utterly gutless and intellectually inferior to Carol Vorderman, they don't believe you.

After a while, tall women start living up to nature's publicity for them. They look like winners, and they frequently are winners. This year's Wimbledon Ladies' Final was between Venus Williams at 6ft 1in and Lindsay Davenport at 6ft 2in.

Height is such an advantage that women, just like men, have been known to exaggerate it. I'm sure that I'm exactly as tall as Janet Street-Porter, because some years ago our fascinated Fleet Street colleagues made us back up and measured us. Ever since then, I have been 5ft 10in and Janet has been 6ft. Strange but true.

Little women, on the other hand, do not like being little. They get lost in crowds, can't see where they're going and feel in constant danger of being overlooked.

Banter is beyond them because they have to yell to be heard by people of normal height. Ever wondered why so many great divas are tiny, bird-like females? In general, a woman would much rather have the stature of Jerry Hall and Julia Roberts than the proportions of Sandi Toksvig or Kylie Minogue.

The worst that can happen to a tall woman in public life is to be called "Amazonian" by Private Eye. Personally, I've always been happy with it. If I remember my classical studies right, the Amazons rode around on terrific horses "delighting in war". They got a lot of respect and frequently married love-struck princes.

The best an ordinary Ancient World woman could do was wait for a deity to rape her or turn her into a tree. Amazon or ordinary - not a hard decision, is it?

The only downside to being tall is that no one believes how long your legs are, so buying trousers is almost impossible. Fortunately the fashion industry teems with tall women, so every few years they bring back pedal pushers and then we're fine.

About high heels. They are not designed to torture female flesh and make women look weak. Nor are they devised to torture male minds and make women look sexy. The secret function of high heels is to make women look taller. Hence the association, back in the Spice years, of girl power and platform shoes.

Thus, smart women wear high heels even if they're tall already. Why be 5ft 10in if you can be 6ft 2in? And why not give a good job to a good-looking woman for once? Of course, it's handy for their opponents to be able to attack women such as Mo Mowlam, Margaret Beckett or Ann Widdecombe on the grounds that they'd never grace the cover of Vogue. But surely, now that we're all European, we could cope with gravitas and high heels in the same package.