Tall, Strong & Got it Going on: Two Fabulous Role Models

Here at the Amazona Blog we are always looking out for really great tall role models and we’ve just found out about two more great amazonian women: Tayyiba Haneef-Park (above) and Jennifer Joines Tamas (below) are both members of the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball team and know a thing or two about being tall: Haneef-Park stands at 6ft, 7 inches and Joines Tamas is nearly 6 ft 3.5 inches. They were recently interviewed by Dr Phil, the legendary talk show host and psychologist to discuss height and some of the issues surrounding growing up being tall.

“Being volleyball players, we are around other tall players all the time and have similar stories,” Joines Tamas said. “With this show, we finally had the chance to reach hundreds of thousands of people. It was an opportunity for me to celebrate being tall and offer tall, young girls advice as a role model who has gone through similar situations that they may be experiencing.”

Both athletes commented that they both had had great support systems to endure the challenges of growing up tall.

“I think it was a bit of a challenge,” Haneef-Park said. “I always knew I was going to be tall, so I embraced it. Other people had more of a problem than I did. I remember being 5-feet, 11 ½ inches in the sixth grade. It was at that point I knew I could take several opportunities to play basketball or volleyball, or modeling. Being tall is what you make of it.”

“I can’t say I never had any problems,” Joines Tamas said during on the episode. “In junior high, of course I was ridiculed. Thankfully, I had a family that was very supportive. You can still be sexy at 6ft, 3. I think both Tayyiba and I have lived a different life than most girls. Growing up, we had awkward teenage years, of course, taller than our peers, but with self-esteem shots from our parents…We’ve just embraced our height, and we would never take that back.”

Haneef-Park stated that some of the best advice she ever received was to simply stand tall.  “Growing up I would see other tall adults who were slouched over when walking, and now they were hunched over and in pain,” Haneef-Park said. “I learned from them to stand tall and be confident. To this day, I still get compliments on my posture.”

Joines Tamas grew up not being able to find clothing that properly fit her long legs and torso. She would have to cut the ends off of an old pair of jeans and sew it to the bottom of a new pair to add length as she outgrew available sizes.

“When I was younger, one of my early dreams was to open a store called “String Bean” that specialized in clothing for tall girls,” Joines Tamas said. “Now, stores such as Rock & Republic, The Buckle and The Gap exist that cater to taller women. However, I can’t just walk in those stores and buy something off the rack. I still need to go to their online stores to purchase my clothes, get it in the mail and cross my fingers that they fit right.”

Haneef-Park, who is expecting a child born in early spring, has also had a sympathetic voice from her husband Anthony Park, who stands an inch short of six-foot. Despite the eight-inch difference in height, Park has supported his wife’s significant height advantage.

“I think her height is awesome,” Park said on the show, “I encourage her to wear heels. I want to see how tall she can be. I think it’s beautiful.”

Unlike the height difference between Haneef-Park and her husband, Joines Tamas is shorter than her of husband of four months, Chris Tamas. At 198 centimeters tall (6-6), he was a standout collegiate volleyball setter who has trained with the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team.

Looking into the future, neither couple would explore the possibility of stunting the growth of their offspring, even if the technology was available to them. “My husband is 6-feet, 6-inches,” Joines Tamas told Dr. Phil on the show. “We could potentially – genetics are funny – but we could have girls who are well over 6ft 5 or 6ft 7. Who knows? And I will celebrate that with them. Every inch they get taller, there will be a party!”

If she and her husband have a baby girl in the future, Joines Tamas indicated her daughter would be brought up feeling good about who she is regardless of her height. “We would want to make sure our daughter feels confident in her height, and part of that would be building up her confidence through her peers,” Joines Tamas said. “We would find other tall children who she could be around, and put her in activities where height is an asset and advantage. Sports would definitely be part of that equation.”

Haneef-Park agreed that confidence is a key in overcoming the stigma of being tall. “Everyone goes through a tough adolescent period regardless if you are tall, short, big or skinny,” Haneef-Park said. “I would just encourage my daughter to be confident during this stage, and as she gets older, everything will be fine.”

Now that one dream of opening her own clothing store has passed, Joines Tamas indicated that she has developed a new ambition that could influence the lives of young, tall girls.

“I absolutely want to be a volleyball coach after I am done playing,” Joines Tamas said. “I love the sport and love talking to people, which is great for the recruiting side of coaching. It would also be another avenue to share my experience with other tall girls.”

Joines Tamas and Haneef-Park appear truly committed to spreading the message that growing up as a tall girl is cause for celebration and shouldn’t be subjected to the painful ridicule that often is associated with being different.

What brilliant role models these tall women are to the rest of us, on so many levels. We can’t wait to see this episode of Dr Phil when it reaches Europe!