4 ms·
They are 4, 4, and 1 inch below average for white males in the U.S. respectively. I guess one could call Gates average.
by hooloovoo_zoo 4y ago
They are 4, 4, and 1 inch below average for white males in the U.S. respectively. I guess one could call Gates average.
- robocat 4y agoAverage heights can depend on age - perhaps an inch or so (people are getting taller on average in many countries).
- pcthrowaway 4y agoAre you suggesting a man being below average for white males in the U.S. makes them "short"?
- hooloovoo_zoo 4y agoBeing significantly shorter, yes, but only because that's what short means. Any comparison of size is relative.
- pcthrowaway 4y agoI'd argue that "short" is subjective, and comparing them to the average height of white men only, when the original claim wasn't that they were "short for white, American men" is a symptom of a culture which considers whiteness, maleness, and American-ness, the defaults, and is worth critical examination.
- hooloovoo_zoo 4y agoI think there's no question it's subjective! But the quote was 'if you walk into any Big Tech company and want to figure out who the manager is, just look for the tallest, best-dressed man and you'll be right 90% of the time.' whereas 'the managers' of some of the most successful big tech companies are short relative to people of similar backgrounds, let alone the tallest.
- pcthrowaway 4y agoThe comment I responded to was "Bezos is short, Zuckerberg is short, Gates is short" If you had said they were unlikely to be the tallest person in the room, I would have wholeheartedly agreed. If you had said they were short by white male american standards I would have also agreed. If you had said they were short by standards of U.S. tech workers, I would have half-heartedly agreed (since there is good Asian representation in that demographic but men are overrepresented).