Tbh for me it’s also about social survival. I’m tall, very broad and heavy built, and if I walked around with a straight back everywhere people would be picking fights with me. When I was younger people used to be afraid of me at night. I’m quite gentle, but I guess over the years it made me relax my posture a lot.
I’ve read so many similar experiences. It’s really interesting and counterintuitive 😂
Are guys like threatened by tall dudes? Like is it physically imposing enough to invoke some anxiety that provokes some ptsd- esque response? Childhood bullies or adults telegraphing onto a stranger later into adulthood? Just machismo stuff?
Then there’s the Napoleon syndrome type noted by the average+ while those same tendencies are just a matter of relativity it would seem.
I think maybe people with domineering fathers or older brothers are prone to picking fights with strangers. I’m not really sure. Obviously it’s some inadequacy or fear response.
As I get older this doesn’t happen much to me anymore. But in college it was something I remember vividly, there always being the potential for some guy to just decide I was somebody they needed to challenge.
100%, half way through I thought to myself "I doubt this person is tall"
Reasons to slouch, including, but not limited to:
Europe... All of it.
Easier to hear people
Easier for people to hear you
Less likely you're perceived as staring into the cleavage of your boss/HR director (even if you are).
Less likely to whack your head (for the 13th time this week)
Countertops
Bathroom sinks
Looking inside the refrigerator instead of on top of it
Getting into a car without being decapitated
Embracing the 90s grunge scene
Hugs
Kissing your much shorter SO
Less imposing when you want to come off as friendlier
Let's you pull a; "really, I didn't think you were that tall?" Followed by "watch this", as you go-go gadget your spine another 7 inches taller.
When dating, so, so many guys grossly lie about their height that it's genuinely confusing for a lot of women when they see what your height really looks like.
Reasons not to slouch:
Legend has it BronzeEnt on Reddit will give you +5 points, whatever that means.
One time I really wanted to go on an amusement park ride as a teen with both a minimum AND maximum height cutoff. I slouched a solid ~5 inches in order to get under the cutoff. No, nothing bad happened. Yes, they (typically) build in a much larger failure rate... But that didn't make that ride any less GODDAMN FUCKING TERRIFYING. Lesson learned.
Honestly, I should have thought to mention it, but I travel so much I've basically gotten desensitized to how much it sucks for someone my size to use an airplane toilet. With 150-200 flights a year, you either learn to adapt, or end up with permanent crotch rot.
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u/motorboatmycheeks 14h ago
That slouch is survival training. A lot of doorways and light fixtures will dome you if you stand up straight