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 had this with a guy I dated. I am 5'4 and he kept on and on that he was 5'6 when he was clearly shorter than me! One day I got fed up with it all and stood next to him and pointedly measured the difference with my hand. Twat.

I dated a man who insisted he was 6’ ; I’m 5’9 and I know that because I’m constantly in the doctor’s but oddly we were directly eye level with each other.

I don't think you've lived until you've had two short guys (in their 30s and 40s) in the office, standing back to back, each arguing that they are the tallest and looking for the consensus from the rest of the office.

Obviously the answer was that the person they liked the best was the tallest... :o

My DS is obsessed with his height at the moment, thanks to the novelty of having overtaken me in the summer. He is now exactly 5'7". He is also exactly the same height as DH. DH has always claimed to be 5'9" and will not have it that he's any shorter.

My ex was 6'7" and he definitely knew his height, but then he was asked almost daily! Back when we were together, I worked with someone who was also 6'7". Ex came to pick me up one evening and came face-to-face with my colleague as they both rounded a corner. They both jumped out of their skin and said they virtually never found themselves face-to-face with anybody It was quite sweet, actually - they had a lovely little tall-guy bonding chat.

@Zoflorabore

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.

This is very cute of your ds. Just explaining how she's factually actually wrong based on some fairly personal details of his friends sex lives! I hope he keeps being this comfortable talking to you.

I've never come across this. Is that because I've never been out with anyone under 6ft?

I agree with pp that men lie about their height and women about their age. At least the ones who are online dating.

Dh’s friend is short. It’s terrible how nasty women can be. He arranged to meet someone he met online for a drink, and had been honest about his lack of height. He saw the date drive into the pub car park, circle round him twice, and then accelerate off out and away. He was mortified and that was it for him as far as OLD is concerned, as he is always ruled out on height grounds.

@barbrahunter I think that would have been my next move...that or whipping out a tape measure! 😁

DH is 6'3 and convinced he's 'not that tall' even though we go to gigs and he's usually the tall guy trying to avoid blocking someone's view...but mention the fact he's tall and he's all 'oh no I'm not really, is it THAT much more than average?' yes it is!

Hah. I thought this was going to be about men lying on OLD. Makes me laugh as DP insists he's 6'4" but when we measured recently he was more like 6'2", maybe 6'3" if he used his best posture. It makes me laugh because he's still bloody tall - why delude yourself? Bless.

@Valkadin

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.

Lots of women are picky about height but it appears that men of average height have a genetic advantage.

A curvilinear effect of height on reproductive success in human males

I've recently moved back from Cambs to rural Victoria, Oz.... people are much taller here.... my Aussie ex of 11 years was 6'7"..... my English husband is 6'4" and looks normal for here....

Because. A good friend believes she has met the man of her dreams she met online. She is 5' 5". She knew he was 5' 6" as he did actually tell her. She met him and they are very happy a few months later. But when you talk to her about him she always goes on about how short he is and that she almost didnt want to respond to him and so on - it still seems to be a big issue. Like buying a house on a busy road - she feels like his height was a big compromise on her part. He must have got that many times so was honest on his profile.
I think its true about it's the mans equivalent to women's weight issues, except they can't do much about it.