Thinking that women would benefit if they were more open minded about height in a potential partner…

[Moonfishstar]

… and not write off the majority of men who are under 6 foot (85%).

Women seem to be fighting for a small proportion of men - with the disappointment that will inevitably bring to the many who inevitably won’t succeed. Of course, it’s even crapper for the good,
but short, men out there.

Of course, we all fancy who we fancy, and I’m not saying we should date shorter (or even average!) men out of pity or a “sense of fairness”, but how much of women’s desire to bag a tall guy is actually societal, and down to how they think other women will view them?

There's so much evidence that your first two links are quoting the same source (one dating app's stats) and your third link says that there's no difference between average and tall men.

Height isn't overtly sexual in the way boobs are in a dating context and a lot of people don't agree on what big boobs are anyway. I believe apps do include descriptions of body types (might be hidden in something like activity levels) so the information is there, just more subtly.

You don't need to ready many Relationship threads to know that a lot of women are very poor pickers when it comes to their partners. We are so socially conditioned to expect our male partner to be taller, but not for them to kind, polite or decent. I certainly agreed that many women could do with reviewing their choices in male partner, for a number of reasons.

I married a short man. Unfortunately he didn't turn out to be a good one.

InCel vibes here tbh. Think OP is a short misogynistic male.

Adds anything to an already vacuous proposition you mean ? 😂

True... but there are a significant number of posts where they state they're tall themselves, or like to wear heels, so nudge over that six-foot point. So in this case, although not true for everyone, the comment still applies.

I'd edit the OP's comment to be more like "while not perhaps a majority, a significant number of women do 'appear' to prefer men over six feet tall, but an overwhelmingly large number (I'd hazard a guess at 90%?) would require a man to at least be teller than themselves"... fair assessment?

Op's point is that men have to be over 6ft. The responses on here saying "I want a man to be taller than me" is not the same thing
Agree with this.
I also suspect that whilst women would have preferences of things they find physically attractive, most aren't going to rule out a funny, kind, attractive man they've met at their hobby/workplace/through friends because he's an inch shorter than their typical preference.

The men who mope and moan about how unfair it is that women only date above 6 foot are probably the men who have more going wrong with them than their height. A victim mindset and a sense of whiny entitlement to have a woman date them are unlikely to come across as attractive qualities.

I see this online, but do many women actually care about height?

I care if he can solve a really complex math equation, but height, really?

All the men in my side of the family are over 6ft. My DS who is 12 is 5ft 8 already.

We're just giants.

DP is 6.3 ish but his family aren't particularly tall.

I think it's just a physical attribute that most women find attractive but it doesn't mean that most women would rule out dating a shorter guy just because of his height. Most men probably like a small waist and larger breasts but they wouldn't rule out partners without these attributes. (Unless they are very shallow of course)!

The average height for a woman in the UK is 5'4.

So a man needs to be in average 5'5 or more to be taller than his female partner.

So very much not 6ft.

Well, if there's anything I've learnt about the internet, it's that everyone is always honest about who they are......

(Quick someone, close the gate to the incel farm, one of 'em's wandered in)

No they’re not, my 5ft 8 husband is incredibly handsome, my son takes after him in looks, is just under 6ft and has absolutely no problem attracting girls but then again he’s interested in things other than looks, politics, music and is incredibly funny so maybe that is why he hasn’t been written off as just under 6ft🙄

I'm 5ft and I don't believe I've ever met a full-grown man shorter than me! The year 5 & 6 kids at my sons primary school are taller than me!

My DP is 6ft, I didn't go out looking for a man of any particular height and his height was never a factor when starting a relationship with him. Although I will admit that it is nice having someone to reach the things on the high shelves for me!

I'd be interested to know the statistics on the 'arbitrarily-decided' searches on dating sites of the 6-foot requirement.

Truth be told, I think it's more psychological than anything... like how people statistically tend to pick 7 as a lucky number, or round a selection of objects to ten. I suspect 6-foot is nothing more than a convenient round number, because you're right... if the majority of women in the UK are 5'4... say 5'7 in heels... is a 5'10 man really not going to tick the box if she met him in person?

Your fantasy man is just that though. Fantasy. It doesn't mean anything.

My fantasy man is Ryan gentles, and my husband looks like Howard from the Halifax ads. And he's bloody fantastic!

I don’t think this is really a thing, OP. It seems to be something men trot out “oh women all want someone over 6’”, but I haven’t met any women who care meaningfully about that - many want someone at least as tall as them, but by no means all.

I personally don’t mind if men are tall or short or middling.

I do mind the two “syndromes” -

Short man syndrome - where a man clearly has issues about being short and is always trying to make up for it by being Uber aggressive and forever making about about how they won’t be crossed.

Tall man syndrome- when a man thinks being tall is an achievement and wants prizes for it - the most or only comfortable bed or seat, the front seat (they move forwards and backwards so no need whatsoever) etc

I’m intrigued by the number of posters claiming this isn’t a thing - men’s height is constantly commented on, look at Tom Cruise, and it’s still incredibly unusual to see a man shorter than his partner (I have a lot of friends and only know one couple where she is taller than him but they’re both tall).

I don’t find short men attractive - I’m very tall and have always gone for men 6’ snd over. I think it’s a biological drive and I’m not going to override it 😄

I really get sick of people here accusing other Mumsnetters of secretly being men. All it really says is, “You’re not acting the way I think a woman ought to act, so you can’t really be one,” which is shitty.

The whole thing with only wanting to date men six feet or taller is a real phenomenon on dating apps, and noticing that doesn’t make someone a man. 🙄

btw I’m 5’6”. I’m happy with my height or over.

Whatever height people are it depends on their personality and how they carry it. Any height can be unattractive combined with the wrong attitude about it.

If a man is brave and good, I actually find combining this with being short an additional attraction.

I think any preferences are fine. Every person I’ve ever discussed that with thinks that too.

Are you a bloke trying to point out double standards where there often aren’t any, by any chance?

I think it’s because Tom Cruise is a bit of a twat!

Commented on by who? Hollywood standards are not real life.

Again, wanting a man taller than you doesn't mean all men need to be 6ft because most women are not anywhere near 6ft, so the majority of the time "taller" means over 5'6 (or 5'9 if you wear heels).

But the whole, women have preferences which are mean and unkind, is a particular preoccupation with the incel crowd.