* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Longhua District and Max-Matching Entertainments, supported by RWS Global forge strategic partnership to develop international IP-themed entertainment complex – Amusement Today

    Longhua District and Max-Matching Entertainments, supported by RWS Global forge strategic partnership to develop international IP-themed entertainment complex – Amusement Today

    Government whip to withdraw Entertainment Complex Bill on July 9 – Nation Thailand

    Government whip to withdraw Entertainment Complex Bill on July 9 – Nation Thailand

    Magicians and Battlebots light up Las Vegas entertainment scene – KSNV

    Magicians and Battlebots Take Las Vegas Entertainment by Storm

    Max-Matching Entertainments & Longhua District form partnership for new entertainment complex – Blooloop

    Max-Matching Entertainments and Longhua District Unite to Launch Thrilling New Entertainment Complex

    Kennedy Publishing, MGA Entertainment Launch Yummiland Magazine – License Global

    Kennedy Publishing, MGA Entertainment Launch Yummiland Magazine – License Global

    MAY HER SOUL REST IN PEACE 🙏 Veteran entertainment columnist and talent manager Lolit Solis has passed away. She was 78 years old. https://tinyurl.com/6kumarkx | LatestChika.com – Facebook

    Beloved Entertainment Icon Lolit Solis Passes Away at 78 – A Life Remembered with Love and Respect 🙏

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    AI and the Trust Revolution: How Technology Is Transforming Human Connections – Foreign Affairs

    AI and the Trust Revolution: How Technology Is Transforming Human Connections – Foreign Affairs

    Technology And Construction Names Join Top Stock Lists: Check Out Additions To IBD 50, Big Cap 20 And More – Investor’s Business Daily

    Technology and Construction Leaders Surge Into Top Stock Rankings: See the Latest Additions to IBD 50, Big Cap 20, and More

    Column: Teach kupuna new technology skills – Honolulu Star-Advertiser

    Empowering Kupuna: Unlocking New Technology Skills for a Connected Future

    EIFO invests $5 million in D3, the Ukraine-focused defence technology venture fund – sUAS News

    EIFO Pledges $5 Million to Supercharge Ukraine-Focused Defense Technology Fund

    New Technology for Water Efficiency and Working with Mexico on Screwworm – AG INFORMATION NETWORK OF THE WEST

    Revolutionary Water Efficiency Technology and Cross-Border Collaboration to Defeat Screwworm

    Environmental cognitive distance, R&D capability distance, and supply chain green technology innovation – Nature

    Bridging Gaps: How Environmental and R&D Differences Drive Green Technology Innovation in Supply Chains

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Longhua District and Max-Matching Entertainments, supported by RWS Global forge strategic partnership to develop international IP-themed entertainment complex – Amusement Today

    Longhua District and Max-Matching Entertainments, supported by RWS Global forge strategic partnership to develop international IP-themed entertainment complex – Amusement Today

    Government whip to withdraw Entertainment Complex Bill on July 9 – Nation Thailand

    Government whip to withdraw Entertainment Complex Bill on July 9 – Nation Thailand

    Magicians and Battlebots light up Las Vegas entertainment scene – KSNV

    Magicians and Battlebots Take Las Vegas Entertainment by Storm

    Max-Matching Entertainments & Longhua District form partnership for new entertainment complex – Blooloop

    Max-Matching Entertainments and Longhua District Unite to Launch Thrilling New Entertainment Complex

    Kennedy Publishing, MGA Entertainment Launch Yummiland Magazine – License Global

    Kennedy Publishing, MGA Entertainment Launch Yummiland Magazine – License Global

    MAY HER SOUL REST IN PEACE 🙏 Veteran entertainment columnist and talent manager Lolit Solis has passed away. She was 78 years old. https://tinyurl.com/6kumarkx | LatestChika.com – Facebook

    Beloved Entertainment Icon Lolit Solis Passes Away at 78 – A Life Remembered with Love and Respect 🙏

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    AI and the Trust Revolution: How Technology Is Transforming Human Connections – Foreign Affairs

    AI and the Trust Revolution: How Technology Is Transforming Human Connections – Foreign Affairs

    Technology And Construction Names Join Top Stock Lists: Check Out Additions To IBD 50, Big Cap 20 And More – Investor’s Business Daily

    Technology and Construction Leaders Surge Into Top Stock Rankings: See the Latest Additions to IBD 50, Big Cap 20, and More

    Column: Teach kupuna new technology skills – Honolulu Star-Advertiser

    Empowering Kupuna: Unlocking New Technology Skills for a Connected Future

    EIFO invests $5 million in D3, the Ukraine-focused defence technology venture fund – sUAS News

    EIFO Pledges $5 Million to Supercharge Ukraine-Focused Defense Technology Fund

    New Technology for Water Efficiency and Working with Mexico on Screwworm – AG INFORMATION NETWORK OF THE WEST

    Revolutionary Water Efficiency Technology and Cross-Border Collaboration to Defeat Screwworm

    Environmental cognitive distance, R&D capability distance, and supply chain green technology innovation – Nature

    Bridging Gaps: How Environmental and R&D Differences Drive Green Technology Innovation in Supply Chains

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home General

Was Napoleon even short? Inside the history of discrimination against short men

November 23, 2023
in General
Was Napoleon even short? Inside the history of discrimination against short men
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

ByErin Blakemore

Published November 22, 2023

• 9 min read

How much do you make? How desirable is your spouse? How are you perceived? Your height could play a role in all these questions and more. Modern civilization is notoriously biased about height, heaping praise and privilege on the tall while minimizing and mocking society’s short kings.

Shorter men have it especially rough. Not only do they face those same biases but they’re also up against a unique stigma: the Napoleon complex.

Named for the tyrannical and aggressive dictator with ambitions far larger than his physical frame, pop psychologists began using this term in the early 20th century to describe short men with domineering personalities. Here’s how the so-called “Napoleon complex” came to be—and why historians still disagree about whether its namesake Napoleon Bonaparte was really all that short.

(The truth behind the turbulent love story of Napoleon and Joséphine.)

Who was Napoleon?

Napoleon Bonaparte first gained fame when he helped France wrest an unlikely victory against the Austrians in Italy in 1796—earning him the nickname the “Little Corporal.” His military prowess led to even more victories, all characterized by daring, even foolhardy, strategies. Hailed as a national hero, he seized political power over France in a 1799 coup. As emperor, he attempted to expand France’s reach across the world.

Napoleon had charisma and huge ambitions. But throughout his life and career, Napoleon was ridiculed for his short stature. His own soldiers gave him several pet names, most of which started with “le petit” (“the little”), and he was consistently portrayed by his critics as a tiny, pugnacious man who attempted to make up for his height by intimidating and dominating those around him.

The most enduring parodies were created by James Gillray, a British caricaturist who helped birth the modern political cartoon. Gillray never saw Napoleon in person. But he mocked the military leader as a childlike man intent on turning the world into his plaything, calling him “little Boney” and showing him as a toddler-like figure in too-large clothing. In one memorable 1803 cartoon, for example, British king George III literally holds the French leader in his palm, looking at him through a spyglass.

It would take a disastrous Russian campaign, a coalition among his European rivals, and the growing discontentment of the French people to bring Napoleon down. He was deposed in 1814 and spent nine months in exile on the Italian island of Elba—then briefly returned to mount a last stand at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The battle was a disaster, and Napoleon was forced back into exile until his death in 1821.

(Here’s what went wrong for Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.)

But how short was Napoleon really?

Just how short was Napoleon? Historians disagree on the answer. During his life, Napoleon was described as both slight and impressive, short and average.

Part of the ongoing confusion seems to stem from the difference in the French and English measuring systems. More than one Napoleon observer said he was about five foot six inches tall, and this was confirmed at his autopsy. But that was often expressed in France’s pre-Revolutionary measurement system. The French “pouce,” or “inch,” equaled 1.06 English inches, which meant that in France at the time, Napoleon was said to be five feet two inches tall.

Historians also point out that Napoleon was often seen in public in the presence of Old Guard grenadiers, who were required to be physically large and who wore uniforms that may have made the emperor look slight in comparison.

Then there’s the deception of appearances. One contemporary, nobleman and ambassador Hyde de Neuville, recalled thinking the man was short. But after Napoleon looked him in the eye during a 1799 meeting, he wrote in his memoirs, “I lost all my assurance under the fire of that questioning eye. To me he had suddenly grown taller by a hundred cubits.”

(Was Napoleon Bonaparte an enlightened leader or a tyrant?)

So why was Napoleon so relentlessly mocked? That might have come down to anxieties about his outsized ambitions, which prompted his enemies to try to cut him down to size. As art historian Constance McPhee writes, British cartoonists like Gillray “manipulated size and dress to symbolically deflate a threatening military opponent, and produced an image that communicates so effortlessly, we often forget it was invented.”

What is a “Napoleon complex”?

Regardless of his actual height, Napoleon inspired the theory that short men attempt to make up for their height with daring deeds. The term “Napoleon complex” was initially used to describe ambitious men in general, as in a 1928 article that complained about “the Napoleon complex in countless businessmen” determined to convince others they are something they are not.

Eventually, though, the idea of Napoleon got wrapped up in ideas of popular psychology, nudged along by one of the most famous psychological concepts of all time: the “inferiority complex.” Coined by legendary psychoanalyst Alfred Adler in the 1920s, the term initially described children driven by their small size and social insignificance to strive for power over their environment.

The public extended the idea of an inferiority complex to adults, too, and connected it with Napoleon’s historically contested stature. Eventually, people began to use the phrase “Napoleon complex” when they referred to domineering, and short, adults.

But modern critics see the idea of a Napoleon complex as evidence of an ongoing pattern of height discrimination, or “heightism,” a term coined by sociologists in the 1970s.

(Visit the remote island where Napoleon spent his final years.)

Studies have shown that short stature is associated with impaired quality of life in some men; in a 2017 study, for example, researchers found that men who experienced discrimination because of their height—or who simply wanted to be taller—were less satisfied with their lives than their counterparts. A 2014 analysis found that men’s height influences society’s perceptions of their mates, their share of household chores and income, and even how old they are when they marry. And taller people consistently get more leadership opportunities and more societal respect.

Is there any evidence that the Napoleon complex is real? Small studies have shown that shorter men may take more obvious risks than taller ones, especially when in the presence of taller men, and keep more resources to themselves when playing a game with a taller male opponent. But it’s unclear if their behavior is due to personal ambition or simply a response to discrimination.

What is clear is that the idea of a Napoleon complex enables people to look down on shorter men. It’s become an “insidious and hurtful stereotype,” writes Tanya Osensky in her book Shortchanged, and is part of a larger strategy of belittling and even publicly humiliating short people.

Such discrimination may be endemic to modern society, but that shouldn’t stop a short king. It certainly didn’t affect Bonaparte. “I am destined to be [my detractors’] prey, but I have no fear of becoming their victim,” he reportedly said shortly before his death in 1821. “The memory I leave behind consists of facts that mere words cannot destroy.”

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : National Geographic – https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/napoleon-complex-height-discrimination-men-history

Previous Post

A taste of Sierra Leone, from sizzling fired bites to soothing fish stews

Next Post

Ultra-processed food isn’t just bad for your health—it messes with your mind

AI and the Trust Revolution: How Technology Is Transforming Human Connections – Foreign Affairs

AI and the Trust Revolution: How Technology Is Transforming Human Connections – Foreign Affairs

July 8, 2025
Brewers chase All-Star Yoshinobu Yamamoto with 5 runs in 1st inning, hand Dodgers their 4th straight loss – Yahoo Sports

Brewers chase All-Star Yoshinobu Yamamoto with 5 runs in 1st inning, hand Dodgers their 4th straight loss – Yahoo Sports

July 8, 2025
An episodic burst of massive genomic rearrangements and the origin of non-marine annelids – Nature

Explosive Genomic Shifts Ignite the Evolutionary Rise of Land-Dwelling Annelids

July 8, 2025
Earth is going to spin much faster over the next few months — so fast that several days are going to get shorter – Live Science

Earth is going to spin much faster over the next few months — so fast that several days are going to get shorter – Live Science

July 8, 2025
Putnam Museum and Science Center Ribbon-Cutting July 12 – River Cities’ Reader

Putnam Museum and Science Center Ribbon-Cutting July 12 – River Cities’ Reader

July 8, 2025
New Miiro Lifestyle Hotel Brand Expands Further In Europe – Forbes

New Miiro Lifestyle Hotel Brand Expands Further In Europe – Forbes

July 8, 2025
Dino Might!: ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ Bows To $318.3M Global In Biggest Studio Opening Year-To-Date WW; ‘F1’ Nears $300M’ & ‘Dragon’ Tops $500M – International Box Office – Deadline

Dino Might!: ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ Bows To $318.3M Global In Biggest Studio Opening Year-To-Date WW; ‘F1’ Nears $300M’ & ‘Dragon’ Tops $500M – International Box Office – Deadline

July 8, 2025
As a Nation’s Economy Slows, Some Say It’s No Time for a Free Lunch – The New York Times

As a Nation’s Economy Slows, Some Say It’s No Time for a Free Lunch – The New York Times

July 8, 2025
Longhua District and Max-Matching Entertainments, supported by RWS Global forge strategic partnership to develop international IP-themed entertainment complex – Amusement Today

Longhua District and Max-Matching Entertainments, supported by RWS Global forge strategic partnership to develop international IP-themed entertainment complex – Amusement Today

July 8, 2025
The 63 Best Amazon Prime Day Health & Fitness Deals, Up to 85% Off – health.com

The 63 Best Amazon Prime Day Health & Fitness Deals, Up to 85% Off – health.com

July 8, 2025

Categories

Archives

July 2025
MTWTFSS
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031 
« Jun    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (710)
  • Economy (735)
  • Entertainment (21,623)
  • General (15,773)
  • Health (9,773)
  • Lifestyle (740)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (735)
  • Politics (744)
  • Science (15,952)
  • Sports (21,234)
  • Technology (15,719)
  • World (716)

Recent News

AI and the Trust Revolution: How Technology Is Transforming Human Connections – Foreign Affairs

AI and the Trust Revolution: How Technology Is Transforming Human Connections – Foreign Affairs

July 8, 2025
Brewers chase All-Star Yoshinobu Yamamoto with 5 runs in 1st inning, hand Dodgers their 4th straight loss – Yahoo Sports

Brewers chase All-Star Yoshinobu Yamamoto with 5 runs in 1st inning, hand Dodgers their 4th straight loss – Yahoo Sports

July 8, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version