"How tall are you?" I'm 6'8", and if you think I'm tall you should see my "little" brother. People stereotype everyone based on appearance as a first impression and the ones who claim they don't are twice as guilty of it.
I'm at about 290 and losing weight, and I find that rather than assuming I'm a big brute, I'm more bothered by the fact that "big" is followed by "and dumb" in most peoples' minds. Not to brag, but I'm way above average intelligence and can hold a conversation on just about any subject off the top of my head. It does bother me, but it's also helped to build my confidence and develop ways to subtly show my intelligence without bragging just to make sure people don't stereotype me as the big dumb guy. I don't really get put into the bouncer role like you did since I work at a University, but a few times I've had no problem letting a friend get me between them and someone who was bothering them, or helping to break up a fight once in a while.
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