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September 13, 2010 5:17 AM   Subscribe

Meet Elisany Silva [YouTube; Spanish with English subtitles], the Tallest Teen Girl in the World.
posted by bwg (18 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
That language you hear is Brazilian Portuguese.
That girl you see, she's really tall!
posted by chavenet at 5:30 AM on September 13, 2010


Because Brazil is not yet good enough at volleyball.
posted by Aizkolari at 5:32 AM on September 13, 2010


Yes, my mistake, it is Brazilian Portuguese indeed.
posted by bwg at 5:39 AM on September 13, 2010


Good lord, the poor kid. Everything in that news clip is a litany of how freakish she is, how she doesn't fit in and how much of a burden she is to her family.

But god help me, the first thing I thought watching that clip was "She would be an awesome Na'vi cosplayer..."
posted by xthlc at 5:40 AM on September 13, 2010 [1 favorite]


Gigantismo.
posted by ashtabula to opelika at 5:58 AM on September 13, 2010


On the one hand, bad luck at being so tall.

On the other hand, at least she's unlikely to need to buy tights that often as long as she lives in Brazil.
posted by MuffinMan at 6:19 AM on September 13, 2010


This poor girl seems to embody all of the physical qualities valued by the fashion industry taken to their logical extremes. She seems lovely and graceful in spite of/because of her linear body.

Hopefully she can find medical relief and a good, long life. It's tough enough being 14 without having a situation like hers to cope with.
posted by kinnakeet at 6:29 AM on September 13, 2010 [1 favorite]


how much of a burden she is to her family

You know, I don't speak Brasilian Portuguese, but what her mother seemed to be saying was not 'my child is a burden' but 'I wish things were different, because I know she wants to fit in, and sometimes she's unhappy.' That's what loving parents want for their children.

Now, the editing might be trying to portray it as 'what a burden this girl is,' but I don't think that's how her family actually regards her. Again, I don't speak Portuguese, so I could be totally off.
posted by Uniformitarianism Now! at 6:54 AM on September 13, 2010 [1 favorite]


Marfan syndrome?
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:09 AM on September 13, 2010


This pains me.

She's heart achingly beautiful and a really sweet kid as well. It would be great if all that media attention actually translated into her getting some medical treatment. I wish there were a place to donate some cash towards this - most likely it wouldn't even take all that much...
posted by oxidizer at 7:11 AM on September 13, 2010


Wow, she's beautiful. Being super tall can be tragic for teenagers, you can usually tell an ex-tall teen even when they're a relatively normal sized adult.

It would be great if all that media attention actually translated into her getting some medical treatment.

A few articles are saying she's got a modelling gig, so maybe if they don't treat her like a freak one-off she could make a living.
posted by shinybaum at 7:53 AM on September 13, 2010


does she like basketball? because Brazilian women's basketball is awesome. they hosted the last FIBA women's world championship and there are a boatload of brazilian players in every women's professional league in the world.
posted by toodleydoodley at 8:12 AM on September 13, 2010


She is a very beautiful young lady. If someone is fetching, being unusual opens doors. I think she will do just fine now that she has the world's attention.
posted by Antidisestablishmentarianist at 8:51 AM on September 13, 2010



What made me think Brazil had government health care?
posted by notreally at 9:38 AM on September 13, 2010


The Girl from Ipanema - except from a few paces further away.
posted by rongorongo at 9:57 AM on September 13, 2010


This video from the Today Show (via the link in the first video's info) says that a nearby hospital is now going to test her for free, so that's something!
posted by bettafish at 10:26 AM on September 13, 2010


notreally: It does, concurrently with private health care. For what I remember (didn't use government health care much) there's two separate systems, public hospitals for public health care, and private hospitals for private health care.
posted by qvantamon at 11:55 AM on September 13, 2010


There's no particularly classy way to say this, as a) it's been noted, b) she IS still just 14, and c) it has a hint of boyzonenessosity, but this girl is incredibly lucky. Not that being so tall is a great thing, but if you're going to be that tall it really, really helps that she is very cute. Unlike other very tall people she doesn't seem to have the odd cranial bone structure we think of when reading about World's Tallest ______. She's basically a freakishly long limbed, Na'vi like girl and I'm sure some modeling agent is already drooling over the chance to exploit work with her, which actually seems to be her dream.

And in her case (for good or bad) as she matures she's likely going to be a lot more than just one somebody's fetish...
posted by hincandenza at 12:00 PM on September 13, 2010 [2 favorites]


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