Does anyone else like a shorter man?

[LostTheGoodScissors]

I’m watching a Stacey Dooley programme about men having operations to lengthen their legs and increase their height, and it’s such a brutal operation that it seems completely mad to me that anyone would put themselves through it.
It got me thinking about how much height actually matters when it comes to attraction. I’ve always preferred men who are on the shorter side. I’ve never dated anyone over 6ft, and I can’t really think of a man I’ve fancied who was even approaching 6ft. Most of my boyfriends have been within a couple of inches of my height (I’m 5'6"), and I genuinely wouldn’t mind dating someone the same height as me or even shorter.
Tall men actually make me feel slightly uncomfortable in a physical sense, they seem to loom over me a bit, and there’s something about the height difference that makes them feel almost quite far away.
Am I an outlier here, or is height really as important to women as men seem to think it is? I do remember a few female friends, and actually some gay male friends, having a minimum height they would go for, and being genuinely annoyed when people exaggerated their height on dating profiles. So clearly it matters to some people.
I’m just wondering how widespread the preference for taller men actually is, versus how much men think women care about it.

😱 I just find that so odd, does he not feel like a child next to you? I’m 5’5 and my teen son over took me a while ago, it would really give me the ick.

I prefer a man to be taller than me purely because of my own insecurities. I've always felt big. Not in height, (although I'm reasonably tall for a woman) but in size and being with a smaller man would make me feel bigger. I don't think mens height would've bothered me at all if I had always been comfortable with my own size. Sad but true.

I like tall men, but I'm five nine so taller than the average woman.

I’m 5 ft 7 so a bit tall for a woman but I don’t mind shorter men at all. Even when I hug particularly tall men my head ends up nestled in their chest which is a bit weird.

Love a shorter man. Tall men loom over you and make the house look untidy just by being in a room.😁

The ick? About the height of her daughter’s boyfriend? And what’s he supposed to do about his height? It’s hardly in his control to be taller.

No you’re quite right I read that wrong I thought it was OP’s BF; let’s hope the DD is short or he’s not yet fully grown, as that’s kind of my point! It would feel childlike to me!

I'm not bothered (as a tall woman). Obviously everyone has preferences but I find the 'tee hee!!! I like to feel smol and petite and feminine!!!' posts on height-related threads a bit nauseating (different to the 'I'm tall and don't want to tower over my partner'-type ones).

I'm 5 foot 9 husband is 5 foot 7. Could not have a better husband, friend, lover, father of my children. His height means nothing when he treats you with respect love and kindness.

I'm 5'5''. To be perfectly honest I am more attracted to men who are at least a couple of inches taller than me and who have bigger hands than me. I've never been on a date with a man who is a shorter than me but I can't recall ever being approached by one anyway.

Think another poster said it too or alluded to it: I don't feel as 'feminine' with shorter men than me. It's definitely biological. I understand some women don't mind but.. maybe they secretly do and won't admit it(!). There will always be differences but in the main: given men typically are taller than women in our species, it's not unreasonable for women to say they prefer this. Whether conditioned to or due to evolution.

I like tall men. I am tall myself and I don’t like a man being shorter than me.
I have dated shorter men but it’s not my preference. My favourite boyfriend in physique was 6’4 and slim.

This.

social conditioning again where women are “trained” that feminine and desirable = small, slim, in need of a big strong man.

turning down a decent man because he isn’t tall enough to fulfil some idea of feeling like a little female with a protector seems mad to me.

the days of women needing men to look after them are long gone, whatever the “protect are women and girls” crowd say.

You[re not alone. Love me a short king. More bang for your buck.

Sorry to hear that. Take him on holiday to Portugal to show him there are lots of short sexy as fuck coupled up men out there.

I like a man who is secure enough in his worth to know it is not determined by his height.

That is a very good idea and very true!

I also notice when I in London where it is a lot more diverse, that plenty of men are his height… and almost all seem to be happy with partners and children.

it’s something I worry about a lot though (I obviously don’t let him know this) but this thread has made me feel much better

Me, 2 out of 3 of my partners were shorter than me, I’m 5 foot 7 and both were around 5 foot 4 ish.

only one of my exes was six foot and I hated it, he was an abusive arsehole and I never felt safe with him

Both the short exs were amazing and pretty muscular though, very nice .

No. But I'd rather date a short, confident man than a man who got leg surgery, if I had to choose.
I'm a tall woman (5'8) and have a large number of tall male relatives (6'2 to 6'6') so anything under 6' just feels short to me.

I find a tall, stocky, and strong man attractive, maybe because it represents safety from other men, to me, something I find important - although that aside, I do find the man I'm with being smaller than me as unappealing as any other physical trait I find unattractive, such as baldness, or morbid obesity.
I'm not sure if that's a result of socialisation, or a natural preference (as most male humans are bigger than female humans).

As someone who likes that her DH is tall and built like a brick shithouse, so capable of looking formidable despite lacking even an ounce of aggression, it has nothing to do with 'training', and very little to do with being feminine.

It's because I've suffered a good deal from male violence in my lifetime, and it makes me feel safer knowing that I have a DH who can and will protect me from other men. And he has in the past when dealing with a violent family member, through him stepping between me and the threat, and de-escalating the situation for the most part.
As irritating as it might be, in rare situations, you might find it useful to have a man to protect you.

That's somewhat different. It's not like we are rejecting men on the size of their knob.

It would be very fair if tall men rejected very short women as they don't want to feel like they are going out with someone underaged.

You find it odd that someone’s daughter’s boyfriend is shorter than 5’5? 😵‍💫 give you the ick ? Dear god

I'm 5'6 and I prefer a man within an inch or two of my height, in either direction. I hate being towered over, I don't need to feel like a teeny weeny woman.

My dad wasn't a very tall man either, at 5'9 so maybe that has something to do with it, although my sons are 5'10 and 5'11.

I’m 5 6 and my ex h is 6 5. My DP is 5 10 and I vastly prefer his height to my exes.

I’m 6ft so when I was dating, it mattered to me just because psychically I prefer a man my height or taller. otherwise I felt like I was looming over them and as I’m broad too, I just didn’t like feeling huge next to my partner. I have dated shorter men in the distant past but it always seemed to be an issue for them eventually, so they’d get insecure and make unpleasant comments. The flip side is men that have fetishised my height so that’s a whole other creepy thing. I’m just staying away from all men now, so it’s ok longer an issue.