Taller girls look less muscular

There are health issues associated with having a shorter frame as well. Yes, I gain muscle quickly, but what happens if I let myself go a bit? I'm short (5'4") and I'm a banana shape, so when I put on a few pounds my waistline zoomed right in to the heart disease danger zone. And I wasn't even technically overweight!

if you're short, large framed and have a relatively thick waist (which you would have as a banana shape), and you're using the "waist should be less than half your height" thing, then it's possible that this is more a problem with that particular test than you actually carrying enough fat to put you at greater risk of heart disease. The NHS (UK health service) has switched from that to having the same maximum waist size for everyone, regardless of height, because frame size does not correlate with height, very often shorter people have the same size torsos as taller people, they just have shorter legs. The absolute values used by the NHS are more reliable than the less than half your height rule.

The values used by the NHS are as follows:

somewhat increased risk of disease: men - over 37 inches; women - over 31.5 inches

greater risk of disease: men - over 40 inches; women - over 34.5 inches

- measure your waist midway between the bottom of your rib cage and the top of your pelvis, and breathe out first.

I still think that this will give false positives in large framed people and false negatives in small framed people, however it eliminates some error by not assuming that all short people are small framed and all tall people are large framed, which is not the case.

My body is built so strange. I am 5'6", with a short upper body and tall lower body. 34" inseam, yet there is barely one inch between my hip bone and lower rib. My waist and hips are the same size (39"), my legs are long and lean, but very muscular (20" thighs, 15" calves, all muscle)
I have very strong core muscles, but you certainly cannot see them under the bubble wrap that is called my waist!
My arms are longer and I have wide shoulders. Never had a problem with muscles responding to lifting tho, even my long muscles.
The only problem I have is getting the short parts of my body to lean out.

Dot Jones stands at 6'3" (or 6'4", depending on who you believe) and is an armwrestling champion and was at one point a shotput athlete. Oh, and let's not forget the Olympic weightlifter Holley Mangold, who is 5'8".

No shortage of muscular tall women out there, once you start looking for them.

Dot Jones stands at 6'3" (or 6'4", depending on who you believe) and is an armwrestling champion and was at one point a shotput athlete. Oh, and let's not forget the Olympic weightlifter Holley Mangold, who is 5'8".

No shortage of muscular tall women out there, once you start looking for them.

6'3" that's tall! She didn't look that tall on Glee I would have guessed around 5'10" maybe... but TV can be deceptive and I wasn't paying that much attention to Glee anyway.

I am 5'9" and I am built like Xena. Lucy Lawless is 5'9" too, by the way. Gina Carano is 5'8".

Go here and pay attention to the heights of most hurdlers and jumpers:

http://www.usatf.org/Athlete-Bios.aspx/

They are not short. And they are muscular looking.

I think something that happens to tall girls is that they fall for the supermodel dream, regardless of what their body type actually is. If you are tall already, the only way to deal with your insecurities if you want to occupy less space is by dieting down to a hopefully slender look. But tall girls can be naturally muscular, and they can have a relatively easy time putting muscle on (and a hard time keeping it off, making the aspiring models especially miserable).

I think that applies for large framed women of any height. If you're short, you're supposed to be built like a pixie with a tiny little frame and weigh about 100lb. If you're tall, you're supposed to be built like a supermodel, with long, slim legs and a tiny little frame and you're allowed to weigh a bit more for being taller, but not that much more.... in other words, society expects women to have a tiny frame and be slender and not take up much space, and also to be delicate, weak, etc. ... whether you're tall or short, if you have a large frame, you're not built like how many people in our culture think women should be... my reaction to it is more like: what the heck's wrong with women having a large frame and being muscular?... and for that matter, what the heck kind of culture doesn't want women to be strong (whatever their body type)? But some women deal with it by trying to diet down to be an entirely different body type, which is doomed to failure because you can't shrink your ribs, shoulders or pelvis.

I've also noticed magazines airbrush the torsos of medium-large framed celebrities in such a way that they're effectively making their shoulders, rib cage and pelvis narrower, so they look smaller framed... that's not the same as airbrushing out rolls of fat or airbrushing someone to look like they would at a smaller body fat percentage.... they're airbrushing them from one body type that's seen as undesirable to another that's seen as desirable, and totally reinforced the idea that women are not supposed to be large framed. And when women say things like "if I gain muscle I look stocky " or "if I gain muscle I look like an amazon " then that's because society made them hate their body type. Which is really sad.

I am 5'9" and I am built like Xena. Lucy Lawless is 5'9" too, by the way. Gina Carano is 5'8".

Go here and pay attention to the heights of most hurdlers and jumpers:

http://www.usatf.org/Athlete-Bios.aspx/

They are not short. And they are muscular looking.

I think something that happens to tall girls is that they fall for the supermodel dream, regardless of what their body type actually is. If you are tall already, the only way to deal with your insecurities if you want to occupy less space is by dieting down to a hopefully slender look. But tall girls can be naturally muscular, and they can have a relatively easy time putting muscle on (and a hard time keeping it off, making the aspiring models especially miserable).

I think that applies for large framed women of any height. If you're short, you're supposed to be built like a pixie with a tiny little frame and weigh about 100lb. If you're tall, you're supposed to be built like a supermodel, with long, slim legs and a tiny little frame and you're allowed to weigh a bit more for being taller, but not that much more.... in other words, society expects women to have a tiny frame and be slender and not take up much space, and also to be delicate, weak, etc. ... whether you're tall or short, if you have a large frame, you're not built like how many people in our culture think women should be... my reaction to it is more like: what the heck's wrong with women having a large frame and being muscular?... and for that matter, what the heck kind of culture doesn't want women to be strong (whatever their body type)? But some women deal with it by trying to diet down to be an entirely different body type, which is doomed to failure because you can't shrink your ribs, shoulders or pelvis.

I've also noticed magazines airbrush the torsos of medium-large framed celebrities in such a way that they're effectively making their shoulders, rib cage and pelvis narrower, so they look smaller framed... that's not the same as airbrushing out rolls of fat or airbrushing someone to look like they would at a smaller body fat percentage.... they're airbrushing them from one body type that's seen as undesirable to another that's seen as desirable, and totally reinforced the idea that women are not supposed to be large framed. And when women say things like "if I gain muscle I look stocky " or "if I gain muscle I look like an amazon " then that's because society made them hate their body type. Which is really sad.

I agree with your sentiment, but having experienced it from the other side (tall and small framed), we get crap about our body type too. It may be presented as the ideal by the media or what not, but in real life, I been getting dirty looks from other women and comments like "do you eat?" since I hit my full adult height at 16. Bring up, say, bikini models on the general board here, even models who are not unhealthily thin, and you get comments like "stick figure", "anorexic", "weak", etc. As someone who is tall, long limbed, and will be quite slender when I lose my excess body fat, comments like that are hurtful. I don't understand the need to body shame any body type.

On a lighter note, I'm a lot stronger than I look due to my fitness regimen and it leads to some funny moments. Whenever I'm out and about and I lift something heavier than a bag of sugar, there will be a man rushing over to help me only to look at me like an alien when I say I don't need help or the object isn't heavy to me. The other day, I picked up the 42 pound bag of cat litter (one handed) from my cart to put in my vehicle and the attendant looked at me, looked at the bag, and looked back at me like, "How in the world...?" My little 10 inch biceps may not look like they can lift anything heavier than an empty paper bag, but looks can be deceiving.