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??!

DBro is 6ft 4. We all know because I think mum kept measuring in despair when trying to get trousers for him in the 90s. He also knows his shoe size because it's a pain in the butt.

DH reckons he's 6ft on a good day and takes an 8 or 9 shoe . A bit like I take a 12 or 14 maybe...

I used to go out with a guy who was 6 foot but claimed to be 6 foot and a half because he said people don’t believe you if you say you’re 6 foot!

My husband is bang on 6 foot and that’s what he says he is because he has no artifice in him.

My DH is 5ft8... With his boots on. I'm 5ft7. It's great... I've no pressure to wear high heels.

Our elder DD will likely be taller than him in the next few years. He gets a bit worried shes going to be a 6footer, but I reassure him I finished my growing by 12/13 (currently just under 5ft at 9years)

My friend's dad did this to me once... was surprised how tall I was and asked my height; I said 5'9". He insisted I must be taller as 'he was the same height' 🤔 No mate, you're more like 5'8". I don't know why he was worried as his wife was 4'11".

This is so accurate. My dh is tall, over 6 foot, but he doest know how tall. I think his height confuses him as he is so much taller than all his friends, who all clearly lie about their height.

My brothers are 6ft 4 and 5ft 10.

My bro who is 6ft 4 just says ‘quite tall’ when asked his height. The bro who is 5ft 10 always says he’s ‘nearly 6ft’. 😂

Maybe they don't know their height? Scales are far more prevalent and easier to use than trying to measure one's own height.

Maybe it's their Mums?

Every mumsnetter seems to have a 14 year old son who is 6' plus. In reality it is extremely rare to be 6' plus at 14, even if you later end up to be well over 6'.

A short colleague of mine often mentioned how tall her sons were but they really were not - they were just a lot taller than her! She once described both our DSs as "both tall," mine was a good four inches taller than hers and still not quite six foot!

Two men who I went on precisely one date each with both lied about this very thing. I’m 5’7 (like a PP, measured for pregnancy and also a bone density scan last year) and they both claimed to be 5’10. One was shorter than me and the other was maybe an inch taller but sadly for him, I was wearing heels. I told them both after the fact that I was disappointed that they had misrepresented themselves.

Well, do women reject based on height? My dad is under 5 foot, as am I and people can be bloody awful.

Exdh was like this. He claimed that he was 5ft11 , and always said he was nearly 6ft. He is almost exactly the same height as me at 5 ft 7.

It wasn't an issue but when we were married I asked him once (we met OLD) had he not thought I would notice when we met. He looked at me completely seriously and said "why ? I am nearly 6ft?" he really really isn't

Ah well everyone has their delusions about themselves

I have had so many men - random men: acquaintances, work colleagues, even in bars - insist that I must be 6ft because they're 5'10 and I'm clearly taller. I'm 5'10.

Many men seem to think there is something magical about 6ft

DH used to describe himself as a whisker under 6ft, but now he's older he describes himself as 5ft 11. Not that he needs to talk about it much - but it was noted when the DSes shot past 6ft (really, one is 6ft 2 at least measuring and I think the other may be taller and is still growing)

Dh would say (& did) that’s he’s 5’10. He’s not, he’s 5’7-5’8.
Much like women saying to a man they are size 14-16 but are an 18.
I did a lot of OLD and was always honest about my size (20) because who wants to go on a date and the other person is thinking er, hello where is icelollycraving, have you eaten her? 🤣 men were frequently surprised that I looked like my pic.

@Lavenderteal271

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.

Completely agree with this.

I have two ds. One is constantly being told he is so tall and the other is told he is short.......there is 3 inches difference between the two of them 🤷‍♀️!

I agree that people are very weird about male height. My ex, a long-term boyfriend from before DH, was an inch or two shorter than me and people commented on it very rudely all the time, said it was a shame that I 'couldn't' wear heels (I could and did, but I've never worn them often), etc. But then the boyfriend before that was 6'7 and people were strange about that too - also rude comments, a lot of people - some of them strangers! - asked me about the size of his penis , and at concerts and festivals and things like that people threw things at his head! DH is 6'2 and people seem to feel that that is the correct height both for a man and for me as a tall woman, because they've finally stopped going on about it...

😂 Same here, I thought it was just me! I'm 5'7" and my OH swears down he's 5'10".
We are practically the same height and in photos we look the same height, I'd say he was 5'8" and that's being generous.
He'll actually argue about but won't let me measure him 🙄 he says I look tall because I wear high heels even when I'm stood next to him in my slippers 🤔

I'm 6'1" and in my OLD days actually got told off/accused of lying (angry not good humoured) by a few dates as I was so much taller than them I must be lying as they were 6' themselves. I also remember a long term BF in my early 20's refusing to hold my hand when out in public because he felt stupid since I was taller than him.

Luckily now I realise that sort of thing is just good indicator of someone not being for me, and me husband (1-2" shorter than me) is more than happy to hold my hand, even in heels...

@IceniWarrior Yes we do

. I looked like a primary school child amongst a group of giants.

I was 5ft 8" at primary school 😂

@EnterFunnyNameHere

I'm 6'1" and in my OLD days actually got told off/accused of lying (angry not good humoured) by a few dates as I was so much taller than them I must be lying as they were 6' themselves. I also remember a long term BF in my early 20's refusing to hold my hand when out in public because he felt stupid since I was taller than him.

Luckily now I realise that sort of thing is just good indicator of someone not being for me, and me husband (1-2" shorter than me) is more than happy to hold my hand, even in heels...

Yes. Nothing more attractive than a secure man regardless of height.

Went out with a man much shorter than me for years. The fun we had - he was a really funny guy and made me laugh every day.

The women lying about their size thing, vanity sizing in shops is so annoying but does give you a bit of flexibility with the truth I bought a leather jacket and the shop assistant got me a size 6 from the back. I've never worn a size 6 in my life and it was definitely a factor in why I ended up buying it I've also bought different jeans at the same store, all in a 12, and some fitted and some were stupidly huge your height is your height, it can't be changed and it's obvious when you lie about it! I doubt most men would know if I was a size 10 or 12 tbh.

I once had a boyfriend who said that he couldn’t say exactly how tall he was because he was taller in the morning than the evening - about 180cm when he woke up and 178cm when he went to bed (he was from a mainland European country so used the metric system).

I suspect that he also wishes he was taller.

I also had a boyfriend who was 6ft 1 and three quarters - he was quite proud of this. He turned out to be a bit of a bellend, and I think growing taller than 6ft was one of his main achievements in life.

Hard agree with @Lavenderteal271 - people stigmatise shortness in men which creates the motivation to lie or even straight out believe they are taller. To be fair, I still think of myself as a size 12 when I'm solidly a 14...

The funniest one I've had is a friend who said he was 6ft, I said no you are not. Friend is not a self conscious guy so we measured him at 5,10. He had thought he was 6ft cause his dad says he is 5,10 and hes a bit taller. He then asked his dad about this and his dad said he always thought he was 5,10 because his mate said he was 5,9 and hes a little taller than him... Someone way back in the chain is lying!