That weird American obsession over men's height.
this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2024
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Exists in Australia too lol
In Europe too. Pretty sure it exists everywhere, just like other beauty standards.
Yep I live in the Netherlands as a 5’6” guy. So many insecure short women here who only want men that are 2 meters all. My height is so much more of an issue with women who are shorter than me than women who are my same height or slightly taller.
I mean, if you're not over 6', are you even from the Netherlands? /lh
well my genes are from one of the former colonies. My short stature will tell you which colony that is.
Sorry I'm not that educated on the Dutch colonies. I only know about Suriname.
I've literally never heard of a woman talking about "I don't date men under X height" in my entire life. Then again I'd never even talk with a woman like that in the first place.
I've certainly noticed the trend of smaller girls always gravitating towards taller men, but nothing so silly as "I don't date small men". As a small guy myself, I actually dated a few tall girls without issue, and happily married to a lady two inches taller than me.
As I always say : my height isn't the dimension you're gonna care about, once we are lying down.
I'm 5'3 and have dated taller girls but I've seen them get shit from their friends for being with a short guy. They'd say it right in front of me too. Some people really are assholes about it.
This probably comes from Tinder, where people explicitly state their preferences. I also don't know anyone in real life who talks about that. These are two very different environments. But keep in mind that romantic and sexual interests are not always conscious choices. People might not even be aware of them, yet your height can still affect their desire to be with you (among many other things).
Preferences are bullcrap most of the time anyways. Only truly shallow people go completely off of looks and are looking for a 100% match to them. Had seen plenty of bios saying stuff like "I'm crazy about tall men with beards". Sent a message saying "how bout short men with beards?" And the response was "aye, I can do that" directly referencing lotr lol
Never thought about it this way, since I've never used dating apps. That makes sense, though. Thanks for the insight.
And I agree about unconscious choices; that's why I mentioned small girls with huge guys. The stereotype is so common, yet rarely, when I asked, were the girls even aware of it. My money has always been on daddy issues for this particular one.
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they may not say it out loud, but I think there's quite a few women that prefer taller men
besides, there's nothing wrong with having such preferences, as long as you don't denigrate the people who don't fit your preferences
As I always say : my height isn't the dimension you're gonna care about, once we are lying down.
Im dying
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And you know, the rest of the western world.
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Unfortunately not just America. Heightism is also prevalent in a big part of Asia.
This is most likely one of the quirks brought to you by Survival of the Fittest rule. Thanks, evolution.
Don't blame evolution for some peoples' short sightedness
I see what you did there, despite evolution.
Well, tallness surely would be a preferable criteria back then! To a certain extent, it is a proxy parameter for fitness.
I just think we can actually use evolution to explain a lot of things that we do, it doesn't mean we should do it.
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What?
Chaotic evil
This should have been the Joker sequel.
Next time someone comes up to me and says "Wow! You're tall! How tall are you?" Imma say I'm 5'9'' instead of the actual 6'6'' I am.
And if they ask you if you play basketball, ask them if they play minifgolf.
or horse racing
Ya I'm only four feet tall and shrinking fast
I can tell if somebody is 2 meter tall or not, and if they are 170 or 180.
Where are all these people that roamed the earth a bunch and still can't tell heights?
Unless you're the same height as me, I'll never remember how tall you are. I was mentoring some girl for half year and when she asked me to guess her height while she was sitting, I guessed ~170, turns out she was 180+.
Height just isn't something I register about a person, and I don't see why anyone would bother trying to remember stuff like that.
I don't mean remembering, I mean estimating, in person.
If a person tells me they are 190 and they are actually 185 I can tell. Can't you?
My height is 192 so 190 vs 185 would be easy to tell, but once you reach ~182 and below it's all a wash. 180 vs 175 I wouldn't have a clue. I was off by more than 10cm in my estimation when they were sitting in front of me, and it was a person I knew well.
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No but it's because I'm American and those numbers mean nothing to me.
Me too, if they are the same height as me or a bit taller then they are 2m if they are normal height then they are 170-180 and other than that they are sub 160
the imperial system and its consequences
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Always fun to say I'm my legal height and have guys get defensive about their height because it would mean they're shorter than they say they are. Maybe I round down a bit?
What is a legal height?
The listed height on my driver's license (and probably passport?).
There's a height on your driving license?
I've never seen one on a passport.
Yeah but at least where I am its self reported lol
Yes. Also eye color is listed (despite there being a photo, making it seem kinda unnecessary). Also technically self-reported. So my legal eye color might be different than my actual eye color.
I don't check my passport often, so I just assumed it would have that same kind of info.
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I'm 5'3 and I've had other dudes that are around the same height as me get pissed off and argumentative when I say that because they're trying to pass themselves off as taller than they are (or maybe they've convinced themselves of that). It's always funny to me because I'd have to be like 8" taller for it to improve anything with the people that give a shit about height. There's no amount of lying that will cover that.
I have the opposite problem. People always insist that I'm taller than I really am because I have a long torso. I guess it lends to a better outcome in some social interactions? Maybe?
You would look higher when sitting, I guess. Not sure if it counts as a social interaction
I really don't get the internet fixation on height. I don't think I've ever heard it come up other than "wow you're tall" or "wow you're short" and "haha yup I am but at least I can reach the top shelf / don't hit my head on things" like no one really cares?
A lot of women care
And women are a wide spectrum of people with different tastes. The most common thing I've heard is that they don't care as long as they're shorter than their partner. But then of course some are into tall guys, others actually don't care at all, and some prefer the reverse.
I would go as far as saying that women care more about shorter men not having a toxic height complex than they care about actual height.
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