The Rosie and Roula Show

I Wish I Was a Little Bit Taller - Does Height Really Matter?

• Roula Abou Haidar and Rosie Burrows

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Does Height Really Matter? Self-Worth, Dating & Why Google Cares

Why does Google list people’s height? And why do we care so much about it?
In this hilarious, honest, and unexpectedly emotional rerun episode of The Rosie & Roula Show, Rosie and Roula unpack society’s obsession with height—and how being tall or short shapes confidence, dating, self-worth, and daily life.

From childhood bullying and cultural beauty standards to dating preferences, concerts you can’t see at, and kitchen counters that don’t fit anyone properly, this episode explores how height quietly influences how we move through the world—and why it really shouldn’t define our value.

This holiday rerun is funny, raw, and deeply relatable for anyone who’s ever felt too tall, too short, or just “not right”.

🎙️ What We Talk About in This Episode:

  • Why Google shows height in celebrity search results
  • Being short vs tall: how height changes daily experiences
  • Cultural beauty standards and height obsession
  • Dating preferences and the “tall, dark, and handsome” myth
  • Height expectations in heterosexual and LGBTQ+ dating
  • Bullying, self-esteem, and internalized shame
  • Concerts, kitchens, toilets, chairs, bikes—and bodies that don’t fit the world
  • Why height is treated as status
  • Learning to embrace your body exactly as it is

💡 Key Takeaway:

Height is not a measure of worth, attractiveness, or success.
Society may obsess over it—but your value isn’t defined by centimeters, stereotypes, or Google info cards.

🎧 Why This Episode Still Matters:

Even as conversations about body positivity evolve, height remains one of the last “acceptable” things people joke about or judge. This episode calls that out with humor and heart—and reminds us how much unnecessary pressure we place on ourselves and others.

A perfect rerun for the holidays, when reflection, laughter, and a bit of self-acceptance go a long way.

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 [00:00:00] Roula: Okay. Okay. Yeah. I have one. Maybe I should go and blow my nose.

[00:00:05] Yeah. Go blow your nose. 

[00:00:06] Welcome to the Rosie and show Marhaba. Good day. 

[00:00:17] Rosie, I noticed yesterday, something, whenever I Google a person, And then you see the first part, like their name, where they are born, their spice. But has their weight and their height? There is no weight. No, there is height. Oh, height. Right. And, um, yesterday I was like, why? Why is their height so important in their, in their, like, this small biography?

[00:00:44] What's with the height? , and I'm asking you this because I know you're very tall and dumb. , you're shorty short, very short in a country where there's lots of tall people. Yes. . Yes. I was bullied so much in Lebanon because I'm short. Wow. And Shehe makes me wonder, why is height so important? Do you feel?

[00:01:08] Because you're a tall person. that your life is different? 

[00:01:12] Rosie: Oh, definitely different. I think the way we experience the world is, is so different. Like for you, you're probably smelling people's body odor because you're down there at armpit height. Ew, I don't have that problem. And I'm in a crowd. I can see over people's heads.

[00:01:28] I can see far away. But if I'm with a friend who's shorter than me, they have no idea what I'm looking at. So I think we experienced the world very differently. And for example, when you're in the kitchen, the standard kitchen bench height is too low for me and I have to hunch over. It drives me nuts, but for someone shorter, it's probably the perfect height or maybe even too high.

[00:01:50] Same with driving. Or the, or the toilet. Sometimes they're just too low. Oh my God. Especially if you've done leg day and you're trying to squat down. Oh my God, that's painful. So I think we do experience the world differently. That said though, I don't think the height should be in the search result when you're typing in Google a celebrity's name and it pops up with that info card.

[00:02:13] Why is that so important? There's women who have a height criteria for the men they will date, which in my mind is ridiculous. 

[00:02:24] Roula: And in your world, in the gay world, is it the same? Are like women have also height criteria for other women? 

[00:02:32] Rosie: It's a good question. I'm really not connected with the gay community to be honest.

[00:02:36] I'm such a, such a, what's the word? I'm a hermit. There probably is, but I think less so. But the girls you're attracted to, are they smaller than you? Are they taller at all? Less tall? It's irrelevant, really, I think. 

[00:02:49] Roula: Except you and Nicole Kidman. I don't know two Australian women who are this tall. 

[00:02:53] Rosie: Oh, no, there's lots of tall, lots of tall women here.

[00:02:56] Yeah. I, we should look up the average height, actually. Um, you keep talking. I'm going to Google this. I wonder, I reckon the average height in the Netherlands is, is taller than Australia for sure. 

[00:03:07] Roula: I noticed this for me, the height on the Google search, because I, I mean, I don't care. I feel very comfortable in my skin and how tall I am.

[00:03:16] Um. But when I was in Lebanon, I had to hear it every day from everyone how short I am. Even if I, I was dating someone, they would break up with me because they find someone who's taller. 

[00:03:30] Rosie: Okay. That is fucked. That is, that is ridiculous. Yeah. Ridiculous. Yeah. 

[00:03:35] Roula: And like, when they describe the beauty of a woman there, the starch is tall.

[00:03:42] And it stayed, stayed with me when my ex was my boyfriend and he came to visit me, he's 188 and he's the shortest in his family. Wow. I brought him to Lebanon and I said, this is my revenge on you. This is because he's so tall. I paraded him everywhere in the country, wherever I would go, because, okay, if I get tall, look what I got for you.

[00:04:07] Rosie: Isn't it weird how we tie this self worth to height? It's the same here. Short people get taken the piss out of, especially men. Men have to be tall, apparently. Like it's, it's, it's tall, dark and handsome. That's, that's what, yeah. That's what attractive men look like. But I've just, I've looked at the stats.

[00:04:30] Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why? Oh, why are you shushing me? Yeah, shush. Let me go back. The average height of women in the Netherlands, 170 centimeters. in Australia are 161. So that's like a nine centimeter difference. Anyway, so yes, the stereotypes. You know, when I'm on the bike and in front of me, there's someone, you know, because here we live on the bike, we commute with the bike.

[00:04:56] And in the beginning I made a gig because I was cycling to work. It's like 20, 30 minutes ride, bike ride. Wow. And I see in front of me people on the bikes. It's winter, wearing winter clothes. And I give myself a challenge to cycle faster to see the one in front of me. Is it a man or a woman? So I cycle very, very hard and then I'm looking at it, Oh, it's a woman, wow, she's so big.

[00:05:32] And what about their calves? Do you look at their calves when they're cycling? I've got a thing for calves. Some people have really sexy calves. 

[00:05:39] Roula: What? Calves. Calves. Calves. The, the muscles. Calves. Calves. Yeah, I mean, it's hard to see because it's winter. Everybody wearing shoes and the shoes, you know, sneakers.

[00:05:52] So it's hard to tell from the shoes if it's a man or it's a woman. Plus the rain gear on top of everything. Yeah, I forget that weather's different over there. Oh, it's, it's, you know, there, there are a lot of beautiful tall women here. Mmm, and their calves are not big.

[00:06:14] So I made it a game and I stopped being embarrassed. So when I go to the supermarket, if things are very high, I wait for someone tall to come and ask them to hand it to me. They love it. They love it. As a tall person, it's great being asked. I love it. I go, here you go. I feel so useful. They gave me this thing, I feel like it's so funny, so amused.

[00:06:41] This short person, ask them for something. Oh, I don't enjoy it when I go to, before I don't go anymore. When I used to go to parties, et cetera, or concerts, concerts, I choose seats because even if I want to dance and have the best time in the mosh pit, I don't do this because everyone is so tall. I don't see anything,

[00:07:04] A lot of places are inconvenient when you're short, mostly for the view and the smell, as you said, like I'm smelling the armpits of everyone. I don't know if height is really important. I know that for men, it's how they use their body. It's not the size of their body.

[00:07:25] So please let me make this clear. 

[00:07:26] Rosie: What a cliche. It's not the size, it's how you use it. No, it's how you use it. I mean, I think that's true, but that's hilarious. We're talking about height. We're talking about height. 

[00:07:40] Roula: Yes, yes, height. So I don't know. I don't know why this is important. Can you Google search and see why they mentioned the height when we search for someone?

[00:07:51] Rosie: Why does Google show height? 

[00:07:55] Roula: So I will tell you another anecdote we used to go to my ex family in the north of the country. Everyone is really tall over there. Like two meters. One 90, super tall. Geez. Yeah. And we go for a walk with his brother, the family friends. I even like move from right to left while we are walking and no one notices me. 

[00:08:19] Mm. 

[00:08:20] You know, it's, that's sad.

[00:08:21] I'm like, so under their arms and up to their waist probably that when I move around and they're talking to me, they don't even see that I'm. moved. Yeah. And then they keep talking to the wrong side. Oh my God. The chairs are very high. Whenever I sit on a chair, my legs dangle. Yeah. Yeah. And the toilet seats are really high.

[00:08:47] No. So I have to hold the 

[00:08:48] Rosie: Oh my God! That's really funny. I've never had that problem. Maybe as a little girl. I don't know. But I don't remember. 

[00:08:56] Roula: The weirdest thing is that the apartments are small. If you have visitors and they're all tall sitting in the living room and spreading their legs, not main spreading, but like, Stretching out.

[00:09:10] Yeah. Stretching their legs. The room is full with three people because of the length. While if you have short people, you can have 10 guests stretching their legs and no bother.

[00:09:24] Rosie: I think there's pros and cons to both. I can't find a Google result for why they show the height. All the results are saying, How does Google know the height?

[00:09:32] And there's one saying, is it the height with shoes or without? So people are very interested in this. And they're saying, where does so it is the thing. Yeah. The height. Um, AI says it does it to provide information about physical characteristics. 

[00:09:47] Roula: Well. What does, okay, but what does this mean? Yeah. Does it make them better?

[00:09:53] Rosie: I think it's a status. Nicer? See, that's interesting. Because for women. There's this unspoken rule, at least over here, you can't be taller. This is for heterosexual people. You can't be taller than your partner. Like that's embarrassing. Yeah. It's like we have to be less than. I think we should embrace our height.

[00:10:14] Roula: For the man, because we still have the stars. 

[00:10:17] Rosie: Yeah. It's embarrassing for the woman because they're seen as more masculine and the man, they're emasculated because a man can't be shorter, which we need to get over it. Get over it. Our worth is not dependent on our height and nor are other people's worth dependent on their height.

[00:10:35] Roula: And it's a taste. It's a taste. So if someone like, uh, a partner who's shorter, what's the problem? What's the problem? There are these things. People like stuff that others don't, but then we have this cultural. unspoken rule that you have to abide by. Yes. 

[00:10:55] Rosie: We need to stop picking on short people.

[00:10:57] I've never liked that. As a tall person, I've occasionally been picked on, but it's usually shorter people. And I really don't like that. My mum was short and I loved her very, very much. And I loved her cuddles. It's not about how tall she was. My dad was tall and I loved his cuddles. Didn't matter. I don't care how tall you are.

[00:11:14] Roula: . So when I see someone very, very tall. I'm like, how are they in bed? Like they cannot carry each other and turn each other and do crazy things.

[00:11:22] Cause they're so happy to be so tall. The mind goes there, doesn't it? Yeah. Is it too much? Do I have to like restrain myself from thinking this thought on the podcast? 

[00:11:31] Rosie: No! . These are probably thoughts everybody has, but most people are too embarrassed to say it. Why do we have to filter our thoughts?

[00:11:39] Roula: Even though I'm sure there are a lot of advantages when partners are the same height, regardless if they are tall or short. True. 

[00:11:47] My last anecdote. Okay. Okay. We were visiting, we were visiting friends. I met the husband of this friend for the first time and he's two to five.

[00:11:56] He's so tall. 

[00:11:58] When I 

[00:11:58] was talking to him, I was talking to his penis because my face is his back and under. And I wish I had like markers so I can draw eyes and because I'm seeing a face there. And I can lift my head and talk to him. It just hurts my neck. He's so tall. Oh my god. These thoughts were going on my mind in the conversation and never, never met them again because I couldn't, couldn't be in the presence of their husband talking to this area.

[00:12:37] Rosie: Can't say I've ever had that experience. That's pretty unique. Oh, I've forgotten the topic of this episode. Oh, height. It was height, not penises. We always end up there. I don't know why. 

[00:12:48] Roula: Thank you so much for bringing us back to the original height. 

[00:12:52] Rosie: So send us your thoughts. Does height matter? Why does Google include it in its search results?

[00:12:57] When you search for celebrities, why do we place so much importance on it? I think we need to stop giving such a crap about it.

[00:13:03] Roula: Yes, I wish I was a little bit taller. I wish I had, you know, the song, I can't remember the lyrics, but I do. Yeah, I wish I was a little bit taller. I wish I had a girl with a name I could call or something like this.

[00:13:17] And when I listened to the song, I'm like, That's so annoying to sing along because, um, don't wish I was a little bit taller.

[00:13:27] Rosie: We love short people. It's a good song. It is catchy. Yeah. All right. Let's get out of here. 

[00:13:32] Roula: Thank you for listening to my rambling and my thoughts. Oh goodness. Don't forget, Rosie, to put that this episode is explicit.

[00:13:41] Bye. 

[00:13:43] Rosie: If you got a kick out of our conversation today, can you pretty please hit the follow button and share it with another opinionated person? This is the easiest way for you to support the show. It also gives Rula and I the motivation to keep going. I have to 

[00:14:00] Roula: stop you there. Stop telling people what to do.

[00:14:03] If they like to follow the show and share it, it's totally up to them. Guys, please, can you help us follow and share the show? Thank you so much. See you next time.