Terrific perspective.

I presume he's NOT an immigrant. In my husband's case, he has the immigrant's instinct to not make waves. Additionally, his height has actually made him prone to "don't notice me" behaviors. He was so much taller than everyone else with whom he grew up that he learned to carry himself "smaller."

He doesn't stand to full height. He walks in a kind of inward turning way.

Here's a funny story which might better make the reasons clear: When he came to the States, a childhood friend of my husband's elder brother, Shwan, a man of average Persian male height (in my experience, under 5'10"), was picking him up at the airport – after my husband's nightmarish trip which included misrouted connections and unscheduled delays between Iran to Germany to Missouri.

Shwan was at the gate looking for someone about his height who looked like my husband's dad. While searching the passengers offboarding, he noticed with some alarm that a huge man was barreling down on him. This man grabbed him up in an enthusiastic hug, exclaiming, "Shwan! Shwan!" When he got my husband to put him down, Shwan said he started looking up… and up… and up, at this giant of man who had been "this adorable little guy" chasing after him and the elder brother before they left.

That's pretty much how most fellow Persians view my husband's height. And that height came to him around what we would call middle school – including full, bushy, Magnum P.I.-ish mustache from the age of fourteen. He also drew the teachers' attention in every group of students, for good or ill. So, he learned from that age to carry himself trying to not be noticed. Since immigrating, it's been coupled with the near common need of immigrants from oppressive cultures to not make waves.