Dating short men

There is a cultural element to it. Loads of Spanish / Portuguese men are pretty short but still fucking hot.

Unfortunate example. Tom Cruise has been made to wear shoe lifts, stand on boxes and ramps, and his female co stars have been placed in trenches, as well as the use of camera trickery so his lack of height could be concealed to enable him to be seen as a sex symbol despite it.

I think it is the case that taller is seen as more attractive, generally.

But universal it is not. Unlike something like teeth, where absolutely nobody has a preference for tar tar and gingivitis; there are women who like men of all heights and have no preference for tall men.

I certainly don't, there are much more important markers of physical masculinity and attractiveness imo (hair, body hair, beard, nice face, nice hands).

Also, there's a distinction between between 'taller than me' (which is a pretty wide range VS tall (above average, smaller pool)

It is nonsense, if it were true short men could never be sex symbols, and some are. Tom Cruise for example.

You don't agree. That's fine. However, that doesn't make it 'nonsense'. Think it's pretty widely accepted to be the case.

I don't think you can dismiss pp comment as 'nonsense' just because it doesn't align with your own taste. I think in our society there is a strong link between male height and ideals of masculinity, and between masculinity and attraction. Just as there is with certain female body shapes and features. I have known many women who will say they 'don't mind' if a man is short, but vanishingly few who would give below average height as a preferred trait in a man. Yes, taste is subjective, but there are some traits so universally preferred that they are generally accepted as desirable. Good teeth, skin, shapely body for a woman, height in a man. That's not to say people without these things will never find a partner, it's just unlikely many people would include their absence on their wish list. If this were nonsense, then why do short men keep complaining?

And some women have a ridiculous definition of “short” anyway. Like anything under 6ft 1.

Nonsense. I don't find tall men to be either necessarily. Taste is subjective it's not " just how it is"

It has always been considered that men around 6ft = more masculine = more sexually attractive. Just how it is.

Do you get a lot of comments about the height difference?

I am not even 4ft 11 and don't give a shit. I am a teacher and my height really bothers the children. From the time they start in yr 7 til they leave in yr11, some will comment on my height daily. Obviously I give a politer reply than that when in school 🤣

I don't fancy short men , I'm 5 foot and dh 6.1 .. not much you can do about what you find attractive

It's often the 5'7" - 5'10" people that get the biggest chip on their shoulder about height tbh

Most small people don't give a fuck, most tall people don't give a fuck, it's just the unremarkable middle that seem to care

OLD and forums such as this do give the impression it's a society wide obsession though, but in my whole IRL as an ankle biter I've never really noticed this obsession.

it’s not society’s “obsession”

It is simply what some find attractive. Height. Others don’t give a hoot.

My 16 year old DN is 5ft 11 which is not short by anybody's definition. But he desperately wants to be taller. That's the effect society's obsession with height is having.

Yet the frequency with which these threads pop up that invariably turn to haranguing women who only like tall men, calling them superficial and shallow and telling them to give short men a chance, suggests that some people think they should.

Well, not being attracted to short men (or men shorter than you) is understandable

But insisting on dating men who are over 6' (when you're barely 5' yourself) is most definitely shallow and superficial. It's purely for status.

But whatever, I don't care. I don't go for tall men myself so I'm competing with anybody.

I'm 5'7 and DH is about 5'8. In fact I can't think of any boyfriend who was much taller than me.

I think if you feel you need someone to just give you a chance because you're a few inches shorter than ideal then you've likely got much bigger problems to deal with

another phenomenon I noticed over the years, is that when a wife leaves,
’she must be a lesbian’ over and over again variations on this tell tale statement -
because they cannot or will not face the truth or accept any accountability

Jamie Cullum and Sophie Dahl
Sophia Loren and Carlo Ponti
Bernie Ecclestone & 6’2” Slavica
Charles and Diana
Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner
Jason Statham and Rosie
Tom Holland and Zendaya
Giles Deacon and Gwendoline Christie
Tom Hollander and Fran
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman
Keith Urban and Nocole Kidman

who did I miss?

probably a few American couples as height difference does
not seem to be a problem to them

I've never felt all little & delicate with a man! I'm "only" 5ft 7ins but never had a relationship with a man over 6ft. They've all been much the same height as me in heels, or shorter.

It is my jaded opinion that men much prefer short-arse women. Very tall men usually seem to be with titchy women! The only advantages of my height are getting things off the high shelf and being slower to get fat.

There's also a different tone to the complaints. With women it tends to be, men don't find me attractive so there's something wrong with me. With men it tends to be women don't find me attractive so there's something wrong with them.

There’s no achievement in being tall no, but neither is there any achievement in being attractive in any other way. If you’re not attracted him, it’s fine, being shorter than you’d like is one factor but I imagine overall he’s not the one for you. I think if you meet someone you’re genuinely really attracted to, and he happens to be shorter than you’d like- you won’t care. So the fact you’re wavering -I’d let this one go.

I absolutely agree that nobody should feel compelled to date anyone, for any reason, I’m just pointing out the hypocrisy when it’s men refusing to date women for an equally ‘trivial’ reason - it’s often made out to be a matter of shallowness and even toxic masculinity when they don’t want to date fat women.

Its unacceptable to tease anyone about their appearance and I agree with you that this is challenged less when a man is on the receiving end. Probably because they don't complain as women would. However that's a different matter to dating. My view is that both sexes are entitled to refuse to date any person if they find that person unattractive for whatever reason. Women may moan to each other that men don't like certain physical types, but they don't try to tell men they should date them anyway. This short man thing is a regular topic on here, loads of posts from (presumably short) men or women on their behalf telling women off for their tastes. It's the expectation that women need to put their preferences aside to date men they don't fancy that isn't an expectation for men.