Why don't men know how tall they are/aren't?

[GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal]

Conversation with a male colleague today:

Him: you're really tall! How tall are you? About 5'10?
Me: I'm 5'7
Him: Nooooo, you're not, you're much taller than that! I'm 5'11 and you're not much shorter than me!

I'm 5'7. I know I'm 5'7, because I've been pregnant twice in recent years, and they measure your height. In fact, once I had to stand up very straight not to be measured at 5'6. Bloke in question is about an inch taller than me.

He's not the only man, I've known several do this. My DH claims to be 5'10, despite being barely taller than me. But why the fuck do they bother?! Does it not occur to them, we can instantly compare them to that handy yardstick of...ourselves??!

I agree with you.
And they never know what shoe size they are when they go to buy shoes..

They do know, but because height is perceived as a key indication of male attractiveness they lie (or convince themselves) they are taller. A bit like weight for women is such a key factor of perceived attractiveness, so women lie (or convince themselves) they are a clothes size smaller than they are...

I agree, height is as big a complex issue for guys as weight is for women.

Can be, not to generalise.

Odd, isn't it? I have a male friend who frequently refers to himself as a short-arse. He isn't at all. I'm a shade under 5'8" and he's at least a couple of inches taller than me. Trouble is, most of his mates are well over 6'.

I once had a boyfriend who was about 5'8" and who 'rounded up' (with a straight face) to 5'10"

My husband is 6ft 6 and because he's so tall people often ask how tall he is. "About 6"2 i think". How can he not remember his own height! He's a giant

Always amazes me how many men on dating apps are exactly 6ft

I dated a guy who was 5ft 5. I'm 5"7 and he was so incensed at the idea I was taller than him he insisted on measuring me. Somehow he managed to "prove" I was 5"5 too, although wouldn't let me see

My ex is 6ft3, and looks very tall. (He is actually that height as I’ve measured him)

He says other men tell him all the time that he must be much taller than that as they are 6ft/6ft 2 etc 😂

They're nearly all 5ft 10 as well
Because they think that's the minimum acceptable height for a guy to be

Except the ones who think they are too tall and they are all 6.ft 2 because that's the max desirable they think.

So 100% of men are between 5ft 10 and 6ft 2 at least in their own heads.

DH and all my previous boyfriends have all universally claimed 5 10 despite some being barely taller than me who is definitely 5ft 6.

Tall men know their height, its the short ones who lie. Tinder is terrible for it - 5"10 on their profile means they will be shorter than me, 6 foot means 5"10 at the absolute tallest. My husband is 6"2 - he says hes 6"2 (although hopefully not on tinder!)

So 100% of men are between 5ft 10 and 6ft 2 at least in their own heads.

This is true. I can tell if a man is 6' and many many men lie. Although I'm a size 8

Lots of women don’t date men under 6ft. So every man claims to be 6ft! Unless he really can’t get away with it. They know their real height, they just ignore it.

I’ve never come across this. All the men I know know their height. Especially my dad who is 5’11” and a half (he is as well)

My husband is 6ft 3
He says he often sees his reflection in a shop window and think fuck that guy is big .
Then he realises it him 😂😂

DS is 6ft 4 for sure and much taller than his his Dad at 6ft 1. I am only 5ft4 , DS always says at least the cat is shorter than you Mum.

Being tall is seen as genetically advantageous hence men lying.

@im5050

My husband is 6ft 3 He says he often sees his reflection in a shop window and think fuck that guy is big . Then he realises it him 😂😂

This made me laugh as I do this in reverse. I'm really short, and whilst I know this, I don't feel that much shorter than other people so it always surprises me when I see myself in photos. Once I collected a cheque on behalf of a charity I'm involved with. The donors were professional rugby players and the photo was in the local paper, much to my embarrassment. I looked like a primary school child amongst a group of giants. I'm not really aware of my shortness on a day to day basis so it doesn't surprise me that really tall people aren't either. My DH knows how tall he is but not what size trousers or shirts he takes. He looks at me pathetically and asks me to choose whenever he needs new clothes. Drives me mad. He isn't so useless in other aspects of life so why he can't remember 38R from one trouser buying experience to the next I don't know.

Yep. I was meeting a man I had been talking to and the height question was mentioned.
He said he was 5ft 9 or 10. I’m 5ft 5 and when we met I could tell instantly that he was 5ft 7 at a push. Why lie?

My brother is 6ft 6 and his twin boys are tiny at 12. When my brother was 12 he was a good 6ft and really self conscious of it and would always say he was smaller so I suppose it can work the other way too.

My Stbxh is one of the many guys out there, on old, claiming to be 5'10" (his profile popped up - that was awkward!)

I'm 5'6" and he's exactly the same height as me, maybe he's 5'6.5" if he stands up really straight....My mum is 5'8" and looks far taller than him although he used to insist to us that he was 5'8" too. He's clearly grown 2" in the last couple of years...

I think 5'10" must be the minimum acceptable height in men's opinions.

As far as old goes, I agree with pps;
Anyone listing themselves as 5'10" will turn out to be on the short side
People claiming to be 6" are about 5'9" and anyone saying they're over 6" probably will be fairly tall.

The same reason women lie about their weight and dress size. Men feel it is socially unacceptable to be any shorter than about 5'10.
My DH is definitely 5'11, but I guess as this an 'acceptable' height so he's no reason to lie to anyone about it!
I have a good male friend from uni who is about 5'7 max (he's not much taller than me and I'm 5'6) but he tells everyone he's 5'9. He's not.

To add- My ds is 17 and 6ft 1 or 2, he’s still growing I think, he’s one of the tallest of his large group of friends who massively vary in height.

He told me that on Twitter recently there was a post from an attractive girl around his age stating that girls/women only find men 6ft plus attractive. He then said that of the 3 friends from his group that had lost their virginity, 2 of them were way below 6ft and one was nearer to it

Ds has Aspergers and is very straight with me. He was clearly thinking that the girl’s reasoning was off... again it’s the whole “tall, dark and handsome” rhetoric.

But women saying or thinking they are a dress size smaller is usually based on the fact they were once that size and hope to be again.

Men lying about their height might be giving their imaginary ideal, self believed , reality defying height but it has no basis in reality. It's not like their 5 7 frame was 6ft last year and might be again in the future.

I think they lie about their height to get 'the interview' date. Ultimately to get laid.

Mine is apparently 6ft in shoes

I've never really come across men who do this, but can imagine the reasons why as PP describe. DH is 6ft (he actually is, I've measured him) so I'll use him as a marker if it ever happens in future

Because they're made to feel that their masculinity is tied into to how tall they are. Just as we're made to feel that we need to be a certain clothes size, they feel the same about height and it starts from when they're little boys. My son is very average height but my DH is 6ft 2. All I've heard from when he was born is 'oh he's got long legs like his dad' , 'he's going to be tall like his dad', 'look how much you've grown' on and on and on. He's not tall. No wonder so many men have a complex about it. Cut them all some slack I say.