South Korea's human rights watchdog has instructed two matchmaking agencies to stop height discrimin

[unreal.livejournal.com]

South Korea's human rights watchdog on Wednesday told two matchmaking agencies to stop height discrimination when signing up men as members.

The National Human Rights Commission ruled in favour of a 39-year-old man who filed complaints against two agencies. They refused to accept him as a member due to his "short" height of 158 centimeters (5 feet two inches).

"The commission finds it an unreasonable act of discrimination for matchmaking agencies to reject male applicants because of their short height and urges their corrective action," it said in a statement.

The watchdog said it amounted to a "breach of human dignity" for the agencies to deny applicants on grounds of their physical characteristics.

"It is unreasonable for the agencies to reject male applicants only because they are short. Therefore, we have told the agencies to change their policies," a spokesman for the commission told AFP.

The agencies had refused membership to men shorter than 165 centimeters (5 feet, five inches) on the grounds that brides prefer taller men.

Source: AFP

Comments

[majidarou.livejournal.com]

Whatever happened to insoles

[dr-crgirl.livejournal.com]

you know some restaurants have rules too...

[zerohundred.livejournal.com]

I think she's trying to say that rules are everywhere, but it doesn't always mean that they're fair.

[peachywink.livejournal.com]

I think she's refering to how they used to have segragated or white only restaurants in America. Basically their denying people service based on discrimanaion.

[rayneweather.livejournal.com]

In a way that's being discriminatory towards women, like me, who prefer shorter men. My husband is 5 foot 3 inches, a good 2 1/2 inches shorter than me. I really don't like men that are any taller than 5 foot 6 inches. Therefore, if I wanted to use those services they would be severely limiting the number of men that would match my preferences. Although the majority of women do prefer men that are taller than themselves I think there are plenty out there who don't. Otherwise there would be a large surplus of unmarried men.

[woaiweier.livejournal.com]

Besides that, I'm sure there are also really short women who don't want men who are way taller than them.

[talklikeazombie.livejournal.com]

Exactly! (I'm 5 feet tall, it gets weird when a guy is a whole foot or more taller than me)

[starsinshapes.livejournal.com]

Small things can come in amazing packages.

[fuuyu-hsj.livejournal.com]

Omo, that's my height. It's really difficult for a man having this height D: but it's really unfair to them to not be allowed to join such a site..

[junhobrand.livejournal.com]

Im 5'5...and i wouldnt know how i would feel dating a guy who's 5'2...but to straight out refuse him membership cus of his height is a bit......but it the agencies defense....their website...their rules...i guess...=/

[dr-crgirl.livejournal.com]

yeah but when do you let companies make their own rules about being discriminatory? I mean, it's like those people who argue that making restaurants not reject anyone based on sex, race, ethnicity etc is taking away rights from said restaurant owners.

[junhobrand.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean..i was just saying its like saying the dating agencies that discriminate you based on money...isnt that wrong too?

[defacetheessays.livejournal.com]

[jaded-skys.livejournal.com]

so I could own a school and say NO COLOURED PEOPLE, NO GIRLS, AND NO ATHEISTS ALLOWED, and you're saying that's alright? that's not "my own rights," that's blatant discrimination in every way.

[junhobrand.livejournal.com]

calm down...i didnt say it was right...i was being a devil's advocat....im a black girl...i dont believe in any discrimination...

[jaded-skys.livejournal.com]

lol I am calm, i'm just giving an example bb.

[jaded-skys.livejournal.com]

seriously? who gives a fuck about people being turned away for height when there's so much OTHER more important shit to focus on, like womens rights and the massive gender equality?

[dr-crgirl.livejournal.com]

but it's a bit rude to say "who cares about your problems" to the male population

lol, no. they still have loads of privilege. I wouldn't mind hearing about this if there was at least an equal amount of concern for women's rights.

[jaded-skys.livejournal.com]

EXACTLY. This is a country where a court let a company sue a dead woman because she was being abused. Yeah, let's get out the big guns for the one guy who's upset that he can't join a dating site.

[jaded-skys.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know very well this country's obsession with men being tall. It's hard to get away from. What I'm trying to say though, is that this is like getting the hospital's full attention to someones scraped knee, when there are people with limbs missing in the next bed over; there are so many more blatantly important and pressing human rights and women's rights that need to be addressed, that going full force for one website turning away few men is pretty ridiculous, don't you think? This is that persons, or those who have been turned down, personal problem and should be taken up between the parties in question, not the Human Rights group.

[oonalala.livejournal.com]

But the court didn't rule simply that short men need protection, it ruled that these agencies should not "deny applicants on the grounds of their physical characteristics". That would apply to men and women and a wide variety of physical characteristics (height, weight, skin color, etc...) The man who brought the suit may have had his personal concerns in mind, but the courts' decisions often have much farther reaching implications, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I agree that Korea has bigger human rights issues than height discrimination, but I can't really get behind the idea that we should ignore some concerns because they are less prevalent or seem less important than others. Ultimately we all want to live in a world where all people are treated with respect and dignity, right?

[jaded-skys.livejournal.com]

ALL people need protection, and I'm not saying the courts should ignore the problem. I'm saying that this is a matter that could be taken up in court between the parties in question. What's really the matter here is that people in Human Rights groups are getting involved, while their interests could be better placed into some bigger problems. This is discrimination, and obviously I don't want that to happen, but that Human Rights groups are up in arms over this opposed to the multitude of problems that cause physical harm or much more dangerous mental abuse, or to the venerable sectors of society, when this is a simple court case to do with discrimination due to height.

Ultimately we all want to live in a world where all people are treated with respect and dignity, right?
Exactly. So why are we only paying attention to the groups that has the most respect, power, and affluence, than those who have little to no voice? That's corruption, not equality. As a woman living in Korea, I see a lot of blatant sexism daily, so I can't help but not feel all that much for a few men getting upset that they can't join an online dating site. Didn't say I feel nothing for them, but I can justify feeling THAT sorry for them.

[dr-crgirl.livejournal.com]

but teh menz!!!

[lydzi.livejournal.com]

The good height is when your feet touch the ground.

[wintersol.livejournal.com]

lol, I like how they make 165cm seem like an awesome height for a man.
But seriously, what if a woman's like 150cm? proportions y'all~

[dr-crgirl.livejournal.com]

what if a woman's 150cm? I don't get it what you are trying to say about proportions

[wintersol.livejournal.com]

Like, most women want taller guys, but if she's only 150cm(around 4'9"), then a guy who is 158cm is sufficiently tall enough for her, even if he isn't really tall at all.

[yunhalove.livejournal.com]

Exactly- I'm 4'9" and I'd have no problem being paired with somebody 158cm.

[royalantares.livejournal.com]

To all the people saying there are worse discrimination topics in the world, this is just one of them. You can't ignore it or dismiss it because it's sexist towards males and it's about a dating site.

[amy.livejournal.com]

This exactly. If one form of discrimination is ignored because "lol its just a guy its no big deal omg pay attention to the women" then it's like saying some forms of discrimination are acceptable. Small battles are just as important to the war.

[waltz-in-code.livejournal.com]

ikr
discrimination is discrimination and we can't solve them from the most sever cases to the least severe cases, or else we'd get nowhere

[jaded-skys.livejournal.com]

The disparity between the rights of men and the rights of women/children/the disabled/the elder are so vast, that this should be mentioned by the Human Rights groups, not crusaded when there are much more pressing matters. Do you tend to the person with a paper-cut first or the person bleeding from the head?

[royalantares.livejournal.com]

Except, those issues are taken more seriously in Korea. We just don't get as many articles posted on here because we're not a Korean news site.
That analogy doesn't properly illustrate the issue. Discrimination needs to be dealt with in all forms. There will always be more pressing matters at hand, i.e. starvation, homelessness, crime, etc but that doesn't mean we should ignore other problems.

[jaded-skys.livejournal.com]

I live in Korea, and read/watch Korean news, and the vast disparity between how up in arms people get when men are those effected and when women are is beyond ridiculous, as women are consistently treated as lesser. Most women can't get high end jobs or big promotions because companies see them as too much work, because obviously if they get married, they'll then have babies and not come back, so why train them? Yet you don't hear the Human Rights groups trying to stop that discrimination, which can hold back women from even TRYING for jobs because they know it's hopeless. Personally, I find that more life affecting than someone not being able to join a dating site. You can go outside a meet people and there are a lot more ways to meet people than the internet, where as being stuck in a low level job with less pay than what is deserved on the basis that you MIGHT have children at SOME POINT in your life is much more damaging.

I'm not saying this should be ignored. The point is that this is the only time when Human Rights activists get really involved, when they should ALSO be working on helping those who aren't in positions of power, affluence, and respect, which men are at the top. Remember that this is the country in which high paid men sued, and the won against, a deceased woman because she was being beaten by her husband, because being a victim of domestic abuse brought down the reputation of her company. But no, let's put men not being able to get on a dating site in the forefront of our concern.

[royalantares.livejournal.com]

As a fellow Korean (living in America) and as a feminist, I recognize the sexism and discrimination against women in a largely patriotically society. However, the rights of women/children/disabled/elderly ARE taken more seriously than discrimination against short men on a dating site. This might have gotten more press and was popularized because it's an interesting story. Usually topics like these are written and publicized to bring in readers. The same way the war in Iraq or the Darfur conflict aren't given as much coverage, as say, Antoine Dodson.

I don't know what the National Human Rights Commission does, so I can't comment on that, but you're preaching the the choir if that is certainly the case that they only help men.

[jaded-skys.livejournal.com]

I agree with everything you're saying, it's just that people have been taking what I've been saying and making it sound like I believe some discrimination doesn't matter, such as this, so I'm just trying to explain that the general population shouldn't crusade for thing just because Korea has a height complex, but take the time to research and expose other discrimination.

[talklikeazombie.livejournal.com]

Aww poor guy, he has the right at the chance of finding a partner just like any other guy. It doesn't represent who he is, someone could fall madly in love with him ya know?

[ghost-whisper.livejournal.com]

Let them sign up. If a girl really cares about height that much, she won't chose him...but just because many prefer taller guys, doesn't mean that someone won't want a guy who's shorter than 5'5. What if the girl is uber short and wants a shorter guy so she doesn't have to hurt her neck to look at him? (lol - like me) Dumb restriction is dumb.