The Great American Fallacy

Bigger is better.

   The fallacy shows up in American advertising, in sports, in speeches and in writing, and in choosing corporate executives as well as political candidates.
   TV ads tout the advantage of bigger capacity and faster speeds in communication devices, comparing the company's product with other aspects of American life, and using children to do it.
   In sports, two of the most popular games are basketball and football, where height and weight are important, and higher scores are common. Unlike soccer, where a player's legs need only be long enough to reach the ground, and where scores of 1-0 are common. In fact, some of the best players are less than 5' 6" tall, which gives them greater mobility.
   A recent TV commentator noted of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech that, "Incredibly, it was only 1600 words and took just 17 minutes to deliver." As if being longer would have made it better. Keep in mind that Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, another great oration, was less than 300 words.
   One of the reasons contemporary novels are so long is cost. Publishers need to provide larger books to satisfy buyers who feel the expense must be justified by length. But in wartime paper shortages, long books could not be printed.
   As for corporate chief executives, some 64 percent are more than six feet tall, but for all American men, only about a third exceed that mark. In the military, the average height of a U.S.  soldier is about 5'7", according to Army records, not much more than the 5'5" in the Continental Army of 1780.  Hollywood movie images not withstanding, the 19th Century cavalry units had a height maximum in that range. Reason: It was easier on the horses. 
   Very tall male dancers and actors are less successful, since the height differential to their female partners puts them  at a disadvantage.

   Sometimes, however, bigger is in fact better. If a man aspires to play professional basketball or football, a large size matters. But not for jockeys or swimmers.
   At other times, being untall in the business world can be an advantage. Consultants who stand 5'7" or less have noted that this is useful when dealing with corporate clients of 6'2" or more. Why? The tall clients don't feel threatened. That says something about the executives' sense of self-security.
   And there are far more menswear shops featuring "big and tall" sizes than there are for those who are untall. Check it out. Most shops -- and catalogs, too, for that matter -- feature sizes beginning at 44 Regular. The merchant's defense is often a claim that there are no buyers for size 38 Short. But they can't buy what's not in stock. Meanwhile, the shops are ignoring two sizes. Meanwhile, clothing for boys stops at size 16. Perhaps there is a hope that teenage boys grow at least two full sizes within a year.
   All of which is not to say big is bad, but merely to point out certain cultural preferences, even when they are founded on a fallacy.