Height is an issue which Dana Patterson finds very challenging. Her partner of 30 years, Bill Puglies, is 6′ 2″ and weighs in the neighborhood of 120 pounds. Although both are committed to remain committed to their relationship, and have attended many couples counseling sessions, neither is comfortable discussing or even considering the question of how much, if any, height increase will benefit them. This is not unusual for a spouse who is raised in a culture that emphasizes physique over all else – in fact, Patterson herself grew up six inches taller than her husband when she went to college.
Height is not the only thing which Patterson, who is American by nationality, thinks is problematic. She emphasizes the impact a partner’s nationalities can have on his or her own self esteem, or lack thereof. Her own observations attest to the phenomenon of “divergent thinking,” in which one considers an object’s dimensions as determined by its national origin – in this case, Bill’s American nationality. According to Patterson, these national origins “often obscure true character.” Height is not a particularly diversified dimension of character; it seems to fall neatly into the predictable categories of gender and ethnicity.
Height may not be a particularly significant concern for those raised in a body image-friendly culture, where being tall is an advantage and connotes success. However, for those raised in a culture which emphasizes size as the norm, such as Dana Patterson’s husband’s native Canada, being short can have implications far beyond the practical day-to-day realities. For Patterson, a solution to her short height dilemma could lie in learning about other cultures, especially her partner’s nationalities. Through such studies as she undertook while working as a doctoral student at Washington State University, she came to understand the cultural meanings behind the size dimensions – and, as a result, was able to expand her appreciation of height and of her partner’s height as well.