Documentary "Tall Girls": How does a big woman live?

Michelle Buswell is 1.88 meters tall - and even in the modeling industry an exotic.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde: You worked on your documentary "Tall Girls" for seven years - quite a long time!

Edda Baumann-von-Broen: In the beginning this was just a side project. I spent a lot of time thinking about what kind of movie I want to do. First I wanted a scientific spin, then a cultural one - in the end it has become a personal film. I am 1.86 meters tall. And I would not bother so much with it if others did not do it all the time. It still happens that I'm standing at the airport, approaching an Asian girl and wondering how tall I am and what shoe size I have. Hello? I also do not ask a stranger: "How much do you actually weigh?"

Was there a key experience that gave you the idea of making the film?

When my daughter came to kindergarten, I noticed how much people talked about their size. After a fight in the sandbox it said: "Your daughter must be more sensible, she is much older." She was the same age as the others. Something happened to me as a child. We still find girls who are out of the norm different. It's strange! And so I started to research.

About hormone treatments that are supposed to stop growth.

It was incredibly hard to get numbers. In the 50s and 60s, many girls got high estrogen doses against their growth - which has led to some miscarriages and a precursor to cancer in the uterus. In the past, there was little talk about hormone treatment. Meanwhile, the doctors have changed their methods a little. Lea, one of the protagonists, injects herself, for example, with Sandostatin - a drug that cancer patients actually get to fight against tumor growth. It is not officially approved for children.

Was it difficult to find big girls and women?

For those who have taken growth hormones, it has never failed families, but hospitals and doctors. It is already clear to the medical profession that this is no longer as socially recognized as it used to be.

Edda Baumann-von-Broen lives in Berlin and with her 1.86 meters is one of the "Tall Girls".

Do doctors hesitate longer today before they intervene in growth?

You have been sensitized. And the parents question more. My family doctor told my father at the time: "Well, it's going to be big, we can do something there!" Luckily, my father refused. As a parent you have to have an attitude early on. Because a hormone therapy has consequences: The girls are very fast in puberty, many are increasing scary. That's why you became more careful.

At your daughter, you did not even measure the carpal bones so that they would not interfere with their growth.

Why should I give my daughter hormones? She is now 13 years old and 1.80 meters tall. In my opinion, hormone therapy is nothing more than a look into the crystal ball. You do not know if and how much it will bring. This is different with the knee operation, where the growth joint is closed. After that, the legs stay shorter, at least for this piece. That's at least measurable, but I still find it questionable. Luckily, some women who have taken hormones themselves have started self-help groups trying to keep parents away. And even the knee surgery can go wrong: Some sufferers can then no longer do sports or sit no longer long. The fundamental question is: Why do you have to stop the growth of girls? Where is the problem?

The standard states that women are small and petite.

Young girls want to have a friend who is taller. But many of them outdo the boys in the class at 13.14. They have the idea that the prince comes along on the white horse and takes them with them. Finding womanhood in size takes a while. The standardization in society, the self-optimizing delusion has become larger than in the 80s. Today, it is even more difficult if you notice without wanting to.

This is not easy, especially in puberty.

Because of course others are mean. Even teachers are often insensitive. There's a teenage girl in front of her teacher, who's a lot smaller, and then she says, "Now you stop growing, right?" This is pedagogically not useful, but it slips out just sometimes. I wish a much more natural way of dealing with it. We have enough other problems in the world.

What kind of attributions do big people miss?

One of my protagonists, Arianne Cohen, has written a book, "The Tall Book". As a result, tall women marry less often than smaller women, but earn a million dollars more per inch (2.54 cm) in life. It is true that big women often have advantages in the job. We work more competent, more reasonable, less feminine and can therefore exist in male domains. On the other hand, mate choice is a bit more difficult. Of course, every tall woman will find a friend. The selection is just smaller - and the men should not be insecure.

What do you want to achieve with your film?

If big people in the family have a role model, someone who occupies size positively, they get along well with it. And as soon as a girl finds an equally great girlfriend, everything is fine. Otherwise, it can take a long time to build a positive attitude towards being big. I hope many mothers will see the movie. We are responsible for how our daughters grow up, whether we like it or not. What we do has a big impact on the children. Mothers who constantly diet are also not a good role model. We are the rulers of culture within the family.

In our forum and on the Facebook page to the movie, great girls and women talk. The television version of "Tall Girls" will air on Friday, January 24th, at 10.30pm on ARTE and will then be shown for another seven days in the media library.