‘It took me a long time to like being different’
Tamara Alireza, 34, is from London
How’s the weather up there? That’s just one of the many ‘witty’ comments I hear regularly. At 6ft 2in, plus a few more if I’m in heels, I’m used to people commenting on my height. I don’t mind – it’s better than staring at me like I belong in a circus.
I’ve always been aboveaverage height. Even as a toddler, I was taller than my friends. By the time I was a teenager, I felt awkward towering over the boys. My friends started wearing heels, but I didn’t dare. At that age, all I wanted was to be the same as everyone else. Now, I love being different!
I’m single at the moment, but when the right man does come along, I’d like him to be taller than me. I met a 5ft man once who said he had a huge crush on me and we’d be great together because we’d have ‘normal sized children’. I didn’t waste any time telling him where to go!
As I’ve grown older, I have learned to love my height and even wear heels if going out. There are downsides – not wanting to date shorter guys rules out most men. But the upsides outweigh the down.
I have just graduated with a PhD and I’m job hunting. When travelling around London I don’t have to get smothered by someone’s armpit on a packed train. I can always spot my friends in a crowd and they can definitely spot me! A few years ago, I was reading a story to my nephew, then six, who told me he was being bullied at school. I wanted to find a story that showed him being different is good. I couldn’t find one, so decided to write my own. Steiny’s Rhapsody is about a grand piano who is big and shiny, but he doesn’t have any friends. All the upright pianos bully him because of his size. Steiny realises he’s happy with who he is, and he doesn’t want to be ‘normal’ after all.
Whatever it is that makes you different is what makes you special – don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.