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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do you consider 5ft1/155cm height fur a woman very short or not in the realms of average height ?

348 replies

TownsendThoresen · 23/03/2023 09:38

I was always told as a child I'd be tall as an adult - by everyone around me - but my actual adult height is 5ft1/155cm. I'm female.

OP posts:
TiaraBoo · 23/03/2023 10:13

Same height.
I’d say it’s short but not very short and below average.
I stopped growing after I started secondary school (11/12) and was one of the taller kids then.

HeadNorth · 23/03/2023 10:13

I am 5ft 1" and considered short - I am shorter than my mum and my sister. One of my DDs is an inch taller than me and she is considered short - I think people in general are getting taller.

jainirrjones · 23/03/2023 10:14

Very short

jainirrjones · 23/03/2023 10:15

It's definitely a few inches shorter than official average height

Singinghollybob · 23/03/2023 10:15

I think short

Badknitter · 23/03/2023 10:17

Short. I was several inches taller than left when I left primary school

Original poster
TownsendThoresen · 23/03/2023 10:17

Prettypaisleyslippers · 23/03/2023 10:11

Were you very tall as a child before puberty hit? That happened to several in my family, went from one of the tallest in primary to not getting any taller than 5ft2.

Yes - absolutely!!

OP posts:
CornishGem1975 · 23/03/2023 10:17

Do people see it as a negative? I've always quite enjoyed my petite stature!

I had friends that were crazy tall at school and they hated it far more than I disliked being short. They always had awkward posture and kind of slumped so they weren't towering over everyone else.

Wanderingowl · 23/03/2023 10:18

Of course it's short but short within the range of normal. I'm also 155cm and obviously short. Though I do acrobatics and am actually tall compared to some of the professionals I train with.

Paperexcelandpens · 23/03/2023 10:19

CornishGem1975 · 23/03/2023 10:17

Do people see it as a negative? I've always quite enjoyed my petite stature!

I had friends that were crazy tall at school and they hated it far more than I disliked being short. They always had awkward posture and kind of slumped so they weren't towering over everyone else.

I'm 5ft 4 but would love to be around 5ft 1 so definitely not a negative for me.

Backtoreality1 · 23/03/2023 10:22

I am 5'1" and consider myself to be at the lower end of average....I don't feel like I am surrounded by tall people. However, what I do find frustrating is that many companies sell their 'petite' clothes as for people of 5'4" - that is NOT petite

jainirrjones · 23/03/2023 10:22

CornishGem1975 · 23/03/2023 10:17

Do people see it as a negative? I've always quite enjoyed my petite stature!

I had friends that were crazy tall at school and they hated it far more than I disliked being short. They always had awkward posture and kind of slumped so they weren't towering over everyone else.

Yes. I'd hate to be that short. The taller girls at my school were envied for their height.

Original poster
TownsendThoresen · 23/03/2023 10:22

CornishGem1975 · 23/03/2023 10:17

Do people see it as a negative? I've always quite enjoyed my petite stature!

I had friends that were crazy tall at school and they hated it far more than I disliked being short. They always had awkward posture and kind of slumped so they weren't towering over everyone else.

No I don't see it as negative

OP posts:
Phoebo · 23/03/2023 10:23

Depends what ethnicity you are and what country you're in

Wanderingowl · 23/03/2023 10:24

Paperexcelandpens · 23/03/2023 10:19

I'm 5ft 4 but would love to be around 5ft 1 so definitely not a negative for me.

Show quote history

Why? I'm quite lucky in that the activities I love and started training in as an adult are most suited to shorter people. So I could see wanting to be shorter than average if you wanted to be a figure skater/gymnast/acrobat/etc. But the only other "advantage" is that you need less food to survive, so it's useful in times of scarcity. (And a pita in modern western civilisation as it's so easy to eat too much.)

raabbgghhrbb123 · 23/03/2023 10:26

Shorty I'm afraid, I was 5ft then had children, shrunk to 4ft 11. I think Average is around 5ft 4 for felmales? I can relate to all the lack of height related issues 😁

Sugargliderwombat · 23/03/2023 10:32

I'm 5 3 and I think I'm averageish. You're only two inches shorter, hardly noticeable I'd say. Do you mind ?

Thesearmsofmine · 23/03/2023 10:39

I’m 5ft, it’s short but not abnormally short. I like being short though.

ShagratandGorbag4ever · 23/03/2023 10:40

5ft1 is below average height for a woman (if you are in the UK) but not unusually so.

RaininSummer · 23/03/2023 10:41

That is short. I am 5 3 and that's pretty short

Cattenberg · 23/03/2023 10:43

5'4-5'7 is not the average height of a woman in the UK! It’s 5’3-5’5. The older generation seem to be closer to the lower end of that range and the younger generation are closer to the upper end. 5’7 is definitely taller than average.

I think it’s the routine use of very tall women in advertising and the bias towards tall actors and presenters on TV that leads people to persistently overestimate average height.

MrsRandom123 · 23/03/2023 10:46

Very short sorry. My 12 year old is 5”3 & growing. I myself am just short of 5”4 so i think she’ll over take me. I feel short at my height as only know a couple of others shorter than me and they are around 5 foot so i feel like a giant in comparison 🤣

teezletangler · 23/03/2023 10:48

I think it’s the routine use of very tall women in advertising and the bias towards tall actors and presenters on TV that leads people to persistently overestimate average height.

Agree with this. 5'3" is average height for women in the UK according to the ONS.

latetothefisting · 23/03/2023 11:02

I'm the same height and feel short - not abnormally so, because as another poster said I can usually just buy clothes off the rack that fit etc (sometimes need to shorten jeans) but obviously shorter than average.

I love threads like this though when people basically come on and say "my height is x and I consider myself to be average" despite all statistics to the contrary!

All the stats I can find suggest the average height for women is about 5.4 but they do seem to be quite out of date - I live near a primary school and the year 6 kids seem like giants so I would expect the average to have increased slightly over the last decade or so.