For the Tall Ladies

[Content Note: Misogyny; sizism; violent metaphors.]

One of the interesting things I've seen, on Twitter and here in comments, in response to the Ghostbusters trailer is tall women being very excited about Leslie Jones' evident tallness.


Jones, who is six feet tall, has talked about her tallness in interviews and in her stand-up. In the profile of her I recommended in December, she says: "I know I'm fly—don't get me wrong. But I don't look, like, standard Hollywood. As a comedian, it's something you learn to use."

Her Showtime special, "Problem Child," which aired in 2010, began that way:

I know y'all already noticed that I'm a big bitch. ...When I walk in a Payless, it gets quiet than a motherfucker. ...I swear, men, if you can get past my big-ass feet and how tall I am, I'm a great fucking catch. ...I'm fine. I can fuck. I can fight. Oh, I ain't no damsel in distress, motherfucker. You can go get the car, baby, while I handle these three thug motherfuckers.

The final line devolves into shadowboxing—Jones bobbing and weaving like a mean-mugging Buster Keaton.

There's a certain defensiveness to it, by design: "Jones often begins her standup sets by 'taking away their bullets'—neutralizing anything that might distract an audience, so that 'they can stop looking at my outfit, stop worrying about whether I think I'm sexy, and just listen.'"

I don't know the lived experiences of tall women, as, at 5'3", I'm pretty much the opposite of tall. But when I hear y'all speak about your experiences, I can certainly relate, as a fat woman, to the constant admonishments, oblique and overt, to take up less space.

And I think it's great that Paul Feig lets Leslie Jones take up space on the screen. I can imagine how cool it is for tall women to look at that frame, and see a tall woman being allowed to be fucking tall.

Anyway. Here's a thread for the tall ladies to talk about the trailer, or their experiences generally with representation in pop culture.

And to my tall friends: Thank you for generously bending over all those times to give me hugs.