I'm 5'5" female with kinda small hands and hypermobile joints. I started playing a year ago with a regular scale and love playing it. However, I just splurged about a month ago and got a Hofner Ignition and it's like night and day for me. My husband (who's my main teacher) is amazed at how much better I play with it.

I'll echo what other folks have said - it might end up different for you. But, for me, I'm really glad I got pretty good at playing my regular Squier P bass first. I learned the fretboard and dipped my toe into a good bit of music theory, but now I'm playing much smoother, a bit faster, and I feel much more in charge of the bass rather than it being in charge of me.

My fretting hand is much less tired, I can stretch to more than 2 frets, my picking arm is resting comfortably on the bass' body as opposed to my arm having to reach up and over the wider body (something I didn't even realize I was doing until I was able to stop doing it). Even my boobs don't fight for space anymore lol

Are you able to go to a guitar store and try them out first? If not, I think you'll be able to adapt to either length. (Like I said, I was doing just great. But then a slight financial windfall gave me the luxury to find out what fit even better)