To think short men get treated poorly

[NEVERQUIT3331]

We see all the comments online, real life etc..

Comments such as:

1. "he has short man syndrome" (short women do not get told this)
2. "too bad he is short he was quite good looking" (in other words saying someone being short makes them not good looking)
3. "future children will be short" (as if that is someone's only concern and not whether the child becomes a good person. Also height of children is not solely determined by the male. There are other factors.

It is okay to have a preference but some of these "preferences" seem to be ill mannered comments.

MissyB - try being a tall 6ft + woman and understand the comments you get from everyone.

However, the only ones who are aggressive and make constantly shitty comments are short men who have a chip on their shoulders about their height. Got many male colleagues and friends who are comfortable with who they are short and tall but there is likely everything in life a group of short men who seem to feel we tall women stole something from them!!!! and they have to let us know

[quote RedMarauder]@PolkadotFlamingos nope it is because you are still under 6ft.

One of my female friends is just over 6ft. I've been with her when she has got shit from men about her height who are 1-2 inches shorter than her.

I had a colleague who was 6ft 4. She got lots of shit from men who were around 6ft as well about her height.

Neither were fat or could be considered larger at the time they were being abused.

I came to the conclusion that some men are just fucking rude and think that women exist to please them.[/quote]
That's awful.

I came to the conclusion that some men are just fucking rude and think that women exist to please them.

I think there's a lot of truth in this.

While it is true that our ideas about what is "attractive" are societally constructed, people are entitled to decide for themselves who they fancy.

Fat pale redheads were popular in the Renaissance. Unfortunately for me, this is no longer the case. Boo hoo.

Are you a small man. What you’re describing is a tiny (no pun intended) taste of what women endure on a daily basis and have done for generations. On a side note I have met many many little angry men.

I tower over my fella. He's 5 foot 5 and I'm 5 foot 9. And I like heels. We've had a lot of comments over the years. We just laugh it off. He says "she likes to look down on me" cheeky git. The short man syndrome baffles me. My fella is the sweetest softest bloke you'll ever meet. But yeah he's had to be more aggressive in certain situations (with other men) as he's automatically seen as weak. A few unprovoked situations over the years. But never have i witnessed anything not even a comment from a woman. Toxic masculinity eh

@TheGoogleMum

To be clear people are allowed preferences of course I just think its a shame for the short men and a very superficial thing to care about. You like what you like though I guess. I'm a very short woman myself, with a shorter than average DH

It is a shame when anyone is made to feel bad about an aspect of their appearance, but it could be much worse than what probably amounts, for the most part, to polite rejection from some women. I doubt for example that short men get called names in the street by groups of women. Or have women hanging out of their car windows to insult their appearance. Or laugh at them as they walk past in pubs and clubs. While it's not great to feel at a disadvantage in the dating pool, I think women are generally much kinder to men they don't find attractive than the other way round.

While it's not great to feel at a disadvantage in the dating pool, I think women are generally much kinder to men they don't find attractive than the other way round.

Is that based on your experience of being a woman or a man?

It's a fact that the top jobs are held by tall better looking people.
Men also lose their hair - this must be quite hard to handle if it happens young. Now shaved heads are ok but they didn't used to be.

My dh is 6'4 - he is the loveliest man, friendly, confident but not cocky, etc. It doesn't happen now but when we were younger, he would sometimes get guys trying to start fights with him or they would say something like ' lanky twat' simply for being tall. I'm sorry to say, but it was always short men who did this. It seemed to bring out a weird, aggressive behaviour in them.

Dh would just fire back something about them being short or joke that he couldn't hear them since he was so tall and they so far away. That usually shut them up!

@blissfulllife

I tower over my fella. He's 5 foot 5 and I'm 5 foot 9. And I like heels. We've had a lot of comments over the years. We just laugh it off. He says "she likes to look down on me" cheeky git. The short man syndrome baffles me. My fella is the sweetest softest bloke you'll ever meet. But yeah he's had to be more aggressive in certain situations (with other men) as he's automatically seen as weak. A few unprovoked situations over the years. But never have i witnessed anything not even a comment from a woman. Toxic masculinity eh

That's so lovely. 🥰

My son hasn't even started puberty and he's already 5ft., 8in. I'm pleased because life is hard enough as it is without being a short man.

@JeanClaudeVanDammit

Short men and tall women both get shit. Well, unless they’re tall and thin in which case it’s celebrated as “willowy”.

Tall and genuinely "willowy" will be quite rare, unless teenage and right after the growth spurt. At my lowest weight ever as adult woman, I was right on the bottom border of the "normal" BMI range. And I still was at least size 12 (top), and 14 was probably a better fit. I had a (male, short) colleague who made constant fun out of me that my hands are bigger than his. Ashamed to say I even cried in the toilet a couple of times.

@FortunesFave

It's shit but comparing what some men 'get' in terms of the way society treats them because of their looks will never come over well on a website designed mainly for women.

Women get judged on their looks from the time they are a child.

It starts early on.

She's pretty
She's plain
She's fat
She's thin
She's ginger
She's blonde
She's got big boobs
She's got a flat chest
She's got a big arse
She's got no arse
She's got big eyes
A fat stomach
On and on and on and on and on and on.

So no. Its not nice that short men get treated badly but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

You are ridiculous

2) "too bad he is short he was quite good looking" (in other words saying someone being short makes them not good looking)

But being short probably does make him less attractive though. Just the same as my physical features make me much less attractive than Halle Berry.

I do think we could all do with being less superficial though,

This ‘Short Man Syndrome’ is just a lazy stereotype. In reality they’re no different to taller men. I know plenty of tall men who are absolute dicks too. My dad, exH, and son are all short and they’re all smart as hell and very funny. I don’t think being short has caused them a moment’s concern, and as my dad enjoys pointing out, in his youth it certainly didn’t cramp his style!

I do think we could all do with being less superficial though

Isn't it hard wired? You fancy who you fancy.

Just my personal experience, but I’ve found that short men are often attracted to taller women and are also very good lovers.

@BackBeatTheWordisOnTheStreet

2) "too bad he is short he was quite good looking" (in other words saying someone being short makes them not good looking)

But being short probably does make him less attractive though. Just the same as my physical features make me much less attractive than Halle Berry.

Depends though doesn't it?

I find short men far more attractive than tall men.

@coogee

I do think we could all do with being less superficial though

Isn't it hard wired? You fancy who you fancy.

Yes but being attractive has massive advantages in the work place and in platonic social situations where fancying each other doesn't come into it. Also a lot of our superificial biases aren't hard wired at all and learned behaviours.

I find small men unattractive. I wish I didn't. My ex was 6 foot 3 but turned out to be awful.

The impact of male height in attracting partners is well documented. There are loads of women who simply won't date short men.

A curvilinear effect of height on reproductive success in human males

I'm in the US and the discrimination against gingers just isn't part of the culture here the way it seems to be in the UK.

As a short man I enjoy these threads. I'm trying to collate the pros.
Pros
I never struggle for space / legroom on planes. So if you are a beautiful tall woman next to me I'll share my spare space no problems. This equally applies to beds or tables. It also means I won't need to pay for legroom upgrades or whinge on 12 hour flights.
There's more chance you can share my bike as I'm closer to average female height.
I'll likely make a better marathon runner, which might be a bonus if you're really into running.
I'm assuming I eat less, so could save us family money.
I'm sure there's more.
Cons
Ok probably loads but let's just ignore them.

I noticed it in primary playground today loads of shorter kids ganging up a bit on the taller kid.

5'4 is average for women. But you are treated as short. It may be because you obviously can get women much taller.

The very first comment is a 'What about the women?" comment.

If a post was started about women and the very first post was a "What about the men?" comment Mumsnet would explode.