Embracing the benefits of being a tall woman

Tall women can stand proud, says a tall journalist, who set out on a mission to collect the stories of other tall women and to model body confidence for her daughter.

ABC News journalist Candice Prosser is in the 99th percentile for height for an Australian woman. She's 183cm tall, or about 6 foot, with size 13 feet: "Long limbs, long fingers, long feet - I'm just long," she told Jim Mora on Sunday Morning.

"[I'm] very much in the minority for statistics for an Australian woman - it's probably very similar in New Zealand."

Prosser said she has had to come to terms with her towering stature, and in her recent article for the ABC, she explained why standing out is empowering.

"I'm actually noticing a lot more tall women now than when I was growing up, and it's really lovely to see other tall women owning it with confidence. Certainly statistically speaking, we're apparently a very rare breed."

The article came from seeing the need for more positive representation for tall women in the media, Prosser says: "I don't think we see enough of it.

"Height is something I've been reflecting on recently - I'm a mum, and I've got a little girl who's almost 5, and she's got beautiful long limbs and she'll definitely be tall like my husband and I. And it got me thinking, I really want to model that body confidence for her as she grows up."

Society has some double-standards around height and gender, as well as body image ideals, she says.

"I think sometimes we fall into that trap, especially as women, of being very apologetic for our existence. ...And a lot of the time we're conditioned to believe that being big in any sense as a woman is not desirable.

"A lot of the time for men it's just a given that being tall is such an advantage, and a lot of tall men have a real natural confidence that comes with that. And I quite like looking eye to eye with tall men, and feeling in every sense equal."

Growing up tall can be very challenging, she says, so the value of seeing other tall women reflected around us is especially important for young people.

"That's not something I had growing up, I'm an only child and I'm a lot taller than both my parents and while they were very encouraging and always told me to stand tall and stand proud it's not quite the same as seeing peers who you identify with in terms of not feeling like the odd one out all the time.

"I remember always being the tallest female always at school growing up, and I sort of struggled with that a little bit."

It would be rare for a day to go by where her height wasn't raised in conversation, Prosser says: "I was six foot from the age of 14."

"Generally girls do have their growth spurts earlier than boys - it wasn't until late high school that some of the boys who were going to be tall caught up with me. That's not an unusual experience for girls ... and if you are a tall girl [you're] just really noticing that you stand out so much.

As well as always feeling like she literally stood out, Prosser says socially her height was constantly highlighted.

"All these unsolicited comments about your body and your height can be really harmful - especially to young girls. I think if anyone's feeling insecure next to a tall person, don't project that onto the other person - especially if that person is a teenage girl - because who wants to make a teenage girl feel bad about themself?

"I think we need to check ourselves on those things, because we'd never comment on somebody's body normally, but height seems to be one of those things that people thinks is okay to mention."

For tall girls, having positive tall role models growing up helps them weather the attention and see a firm footing to build a positive self-image.

The experience of one of the women Prosser spoke with struck her as particularly valuable.

"She grew up in a tall family, she said she was surrounded by all these tall women who are successful and beautiful and powerful, and and so it didn't feel foreign for her. I was talking about role-modelling that confidence - she had that all around her.

"She said that all actually made her view the attention that she got as a young girl - and tall people we do get attention, we stand out - she viewed that in a really positive way, that standing out was positive.

"And I think it all depends on your experience. If you feel like you stand out and you're feeling awkward about it - as all teenagers feel awkward about lots of things - that kind of changes the way you see yourself."

As well as the obvious bonuses of height, of being able to see over a crowd, find the exits easily and reach things on tall shelves, one of the advantages is being able to command a room and to be seen as a leader easily, Prosser says.

"That's one of the things that the women I spoke to said they really enjoy in their working lives now, is the ability to stand out and own that. And I think you have to have the confidence to take advantage of those things, and that's something a lot of us grow into.

"I've really grown into my height and I really love it."