> many months of my & my partner's life, and risked dying to be a few cm taller

Wrong assumption. Men who wants to be taller are doing it to have more success in dating, because women are heavily biased towards taller men.

The main subject of the article, “Frank”, is already married. This is the part of the article that explains his motivation:

> There were the kids at school who taunted him for his height; a longtime online fan of his artwork who remarked, on meeting him, that Frank was “shorter than I expected”; or the guys who randomly shoved him in the street a few years ago, tearing out his headphones. They wouldn’t have done that to a taller man, he reasons.

We should all try it. what's a few months of pain.

Ridicule based on arbitrary and frivolous attributes are shaped by jealousy and the associated urge to eliminate social competition. That's why the highly talented kids (even adults at times) are bullied. Meanwhile, such peer pressure has an awfully powerful influence on emotions and decisions. Both are fundamental human behaviors and they're not going away. The only way to overcome it is to burn some social capital by calling it out and protesting it. If you're lucky, you may even earn some social capital.

> or how most westerners are very uncomfortable with "skin lightening" as a beauty thing

I'm not sure I catch the meaning (due to cultural differences). Could you elaborate?

I don't understand your comment - what partner are you talking about? These surgeries exist because of the ongoing trend among young women to date tall man only.