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Men's height

268 replies

Jenna333 · 02/08/2015 22:43

I know this is a shallow question but having looked at some OLD profiles, I got wondering about mens height. I know ultimately it comes down to many factors but I was wondering how other women feel about shorter men e.g 5'4" ish?

OP posts:
19lottie82 · 03/08/2015 10:55

I'm 5'9'' and my DH is 5'7''. I have to admit, I would like it if he was a bit taller, but in general, it doesn't bother me. It doesn't stop me fancying him!

Geekymeeky · 03/08/2015 10:56

Thestoic it is based on gender. That a man is less than a man because of his height. Were it not for his gender, a short man's height would not be disparage and he would not be considered unable to protect women from wild beast and marauding gangs.

TheStoic · 03/08/2015 11:01

He is not being 'discriminated against' because of his gender.

Queenbean · 03/08/2015 11:01

Many many celebrity male leads are very short and they seem to do ok!

Personally, I prefer a big burly man so that I don't feel like a drag queen

rumred · 03/08/2015 11:01

Jesus. The height bias/judgement is gender related. It seems discriminatory to me. I'm clearly not getting my point over in an intellectually acceptable way so I'm out of here.

Geekymeeky · 03/08/2015 11:07

Thestoic you clearly do not understand the meaning, including the spirit, of sexism.

whatsthatcomingoverthehill · 03/08/2015 11:09

Back when I did online dating one of the commonest things to see was women only wanting tall men. Which is fine, we all have preferences after all. But it does rather limit your chances when most other women want the same thing. Average UK male height is 5'9, with only about 20% taller than 6'. If a lot of women are all gunning for that 20% there are going to be many who end up disappointed.

HPsauciness · 03/08/2015 11:12

I do like a well-built tall man if they are great in every way. I wouldn't prioritize height though over intellect, humour and good-looks and I have dated shorter but very handsome men in my time.

I do think the height thing is odd though, I had a female friend who was desperate, literally desperate to settle down and get married, and when I asked her about her online dating preferences, she always put tall and dark, thus filtering out lots of perfectly nice men who might have been great for her in other ways. She also put down 'no children or previous marriage' and then complained that all the late twenties/early thirties guys coming her way were too immature and didn't want to settle down!

I couldn't get her to see that these restrictive criteria were stopping her meeting the full gamut of men (especially as she was very clever, so needed someone similar)- and that relaxing some of these criteria didn't mean settling for someone who wasn't attractive to you, but rather opening you up to a wider range of what is attractive than a very conventional Prince Charming type who always (unsurprisingly given how women fawn over tall dark and handsome men) turned out to be absolute pigs in their behaviour.

In the end, she met a shorter than her, fair-haired slightly balding guy in a pub and married him!

I think sometimes these 'I only go for tall guys' people are cutting off their noses to spite their faces if they then go on to complain there aren't many guys out there. It's like the men online who only date size 8 to 10, fine if you are happy to wait it out for your slender mate, go right ahead, but you are cutting yourself off from vast swathes of people who may be rather attractive and perfect for you in so many other ways.

SoupDragon · 03/08/2015 11:13

I'm clearly not getting my point over in an intellectually acceptable way

No, some people simply don't agree with you.

TheStoic · 03/08/2015 11:15

The stoic you clearly do not understand the meaning, including the spirit, of sexism.

Sexism is discrimination based on gender.

Not height. Not weight. Not sexual preference. Not race. Not religion.

If a woman who is not attracted to a short man is being sexist - and I assume you think that is bad? - what do you think she should do?

Date him anyway, in order not to be 'sexist'?

squoosh · 03/08/2015 11:20

I'm not attracted to me who are shorter than me.

I'm sure many men have ruled me out on first sight on the grounds that I'm too tall/not skinny enough/not leggy enough/too blonde etc. etc.

And that's fine.

SoupDragon · 03/08/2015 11:21

Is it sexist to only like short men?

TheStoic · 03/08/2015 11:30

That must be... anti-sexist, SoupDragon.

StonedGalah · 03/08/2015 11:31

My cousin liked short, rotund, balding men (at 20!) Whereas l liked tall, lean guys. It was great going out as we were never attracted to the same guy.

A 'type' is what you are attracted too, not what you can really help. And it can change!

I knew this thread would go this way though.

DrMorbius · 03/08/2015 11:41

He changed the word teacher to doctor I can see that. You wouldn't date a teacher would you????

I thought you were going to say he changed the word "Married" to "Single" Grin

squoosh · 03/08/2015 11:42

So he pretended to be a doctor to get dates? How did that fib work out for him long term?

penguinsaresmall · 03/08/2015 11:45

It's just personal preference IMO - no different to preferring brown eyes, blonde hair, whatever.

I am tall so have always preferred tall men. My 'cut off' minimum on my imaginary ideal man list was always 6ft 2. DH is 6ft 3 Smile

AICM · 03/08/2015 11:54

He changed his job to doctor on the dating sites out of curiosity. He never contacted any of the women who got in touch; he just moaned to me and a few others about women on dating sites being shallow.

He married an office worker he met in a pub in the end and went on to be a really great husband and a wonderful father.

Whenever I see him and his family I always think about the masses of women who must have ruled him out on superficial grounds. I'm sure many of them are still single and moaning about how there are no decent men out there past 35.

CalmYourselfTubbs · 03/08/2015 12:11

i'm 5'8" and when i used to date i wouldn't go for any man shorter than me.
in my experience, i found that men don't like tall women.

MysteryMan1 · 03/08/2015 12:24

I have a few mates who are 6'5 or so and in general women love them. One is going out with someone who is 5'2 and they look ridiculous! :)

GraysAnalogy · 03/08/2015 12:25

People do take issue with men saying they don't like bigger women though. I see it all the time.

And this silly social experiment where the woman turns up to a date in a fat suit. Every website I've seen this video has slated the men saying they're horrible, ignorant, sexist, fat phobic...

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/25/woman-fat-suit-tinder-date_n_5881330.html

SoupDragon · 03/08/2015 12:28

In that social experiment, was the Fat Suit Woman honest about the size she was going to be in her online profile?

GraysAnalogy · 03/08/2015 12:28

No Soup

ShelaghTurner · 03/08/2015 12:37

I'm 5' 2. Everyone is taller than me!

SoupDragon · 03/08/2015 12:41

Then it is a shit social experiment isn't it? The dates were expecting someone who fits their personal criteria and got someone who didn't. I suspect the reactions would have been different had she been "honest" and only had people turn up who liked bigger women. Of course, this wouldn't have shown whatever they wanted to prove.