Women and their height

[Aerows]

Why do women that are over 5'8" lie about their height? I'm 5'4. If I was 5'10" or even 6'0, I would be proud to state it. As it stands I wear the highest heels I can, and walk as tall as possible.

I can look at any number of women that say "I'm 5'7" in bare feet, and they are nowhere near that short.

What is the shame to embrace being tall as a woman? I would think that would be a bonus, not a liability. What is wrong with a woman being tall, and why hide that you are?

[MicaelS]

1. Read an article about tall women one time.

The comment was made "None of the tall girls got a date in college until they became models".

[Aerows]

2. Why do you suppose that is?

Nobody gets asked on dates unless they conform to a certain specification in high school.

[LisaL]

4. A lot of men feel insecure about dating women who are taller than they are.

[MicaelS]

7. Agreed. n/t

[Chan790]

40. I don't know but I can only speak to my own life-experience.

I am kind of picky...I have to admit that upfront.

I am only turned-on by pudgy short brunettes and redheads in glasses between the ages of 25-45 to the exclusion of all other women. That is literally the demographic of every women I have ever dated from the age of 14 (Yes, I'm aware that most people would consider that relationship to be illegal and immoral on my ex-gf's part) to my current age of 35. Women that don't fit that metric do nothing at-all for me; I am just not into them at-all.

I used to feel bad about it but I've come to accept that I have no more control over what I am attracted to than a lot of other people. I didn't choose this.

[demmiblue]

3. Personally, I have never really heard a woman talk about their height, much less lie about it.

Also, high heels are not something I would ever consider wearing but once or twice a year. My feet thank me for that!

[NewJeffCT]

5. This is just anecdotal

I've found that both sexes lie about their heights, but men tend to do it more often than women and men almost always claim to be taller (former NBA star Bill Walton may be an exception, as he insisted he was 6'11", but was taller than some NBA 7 footers), while women try more for the middle, as you stated above - for example, my ex-wife used to insist to everybody that she was 5'1", but was probably 4'11" or so. (I used to joke with her when she said that one of her requirements in a guy is that he be taller than her, so my response was that she wasn't exactly eliminating many people with that requirement...)

Going back to my college days, the two guys that lived across from me in my dorm were both very short, but if you spoke to them, they were definitely 5'8" and 5'5", but were both a good 3 inches shorter than what they claimed.

[FrankAB]

23. My wife is 4'11" and a half but she rounds off to five.

She is also from another country. They actually used to measure you and weigh you when you apply for office jobs. If you're over 30, then you're over the hill for a job. I would bet that they still do these things.

[NewJeffCT]

25. My wife has applied for jobs overseas as well

and was told that she was too old a few times. Can't really do that here. (Of course, I was turned down for a few jobs when I was told I was "too experienced" for the roles - which, I think is a euphemism for "too old&quot

(not my ex-wife, I mean, but I later remarried)

[FrankAB]

26. I have gotten the "too old" thing countless times.

It's funny how people say, "Go get a job at McDonalds!" Well, I was out of work for two years. I applied everywhere but McDonalds. Pizza joints and gas stations and the like. They look at your application, then look at your well-dressed manner, and then give you that forget it look. I would apply for management at Enterprise Rent a Car, but they really want people fresh out of college. They know you're only there until you actually find something that fits. It is also so awkward, both for them and the applicant. I can't blame them really.

I am lucky now. I work at home. Sort of a cross between working independently and having a business. If I can keep up the clients/customers, then all should be well.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. I'll tell you, my dear Aerows...

I have never lied about my height.

I used to be 5'8" and I dated guys who were shorter than that all the time. In fact, my husband was the first guy I dated who was taller than me. And that was not the reason I married him, though it didn't hurt!

Height didn't matter much to me then. I was always looking for the most intelligent guy I could find.

(I'm unsure about my height now because I've shrunk a bit.)

[DamnYankeeInHouston]

8. I had a roommate who said she was 5' 12"

[FrankAB]

24. LOL

Technically accurate, I suppose. Yes that is one way around it!

[OriginalGeek]

9. I was short in high school

well, I still am I guess - I'm 5'9" but I didn't get there until a little after my senior year. From 6th through 11th grade there was almos t no girls shorter than I was.

I came within a day of not going to my homecoming dinner (christian school - we didn't have dances lol) because the girl I liked was a good four inches taller than me. I didn't give a hoot but she seemed to be terrified of being seen with a short kid even though I was a year older then she. She liked me too and wanted to go but kept freaking out about our height difference and only agreed to go when she knew I had bought her a mum and all that stuff. So we went and were teased mercilessly and I never saw her again. not by my choice. Mean mean Suzi.

[NJCher]

10. It is a bonus, and most tall women understand it

I agree--anecdotal. All the tall women I know love their height. I don't know anyone who minimizes their height. In fact, a few of these 5'10-11'ers wear heels and carry it off quite nicely.

Now me--I'm tall, too--but heels just aren't my style.

Here's something I found interesting about tall women: When I began my doctoral program in speech communication, I had a meeting with all the other students in the program--about 15 people. Every single woman in that program had to be nearly 6' tall. I always thought that was an anomaly.

Then, a few years later, I was in an activist meeting with a woman in my neighborhood. She happened to be short. As you probably know, activist work requires a good deal of public speaking, such as in front of the town council, etc. That night she was scheduled to speak, and she was trying to get up her confidence. I scoffed at her concerns, saying "it's only the town council," and she said, "You don't understand because you're tall. I've always admired the way tall people navigate the world."

It was then that I understood that it wasn't an anomaly to have so many tall women in a doctoral program in public speaking. Public speaking is the number one fear of Americans, and it takes a good deal of confidence to be good at it and to enjoy it. My theory is that the tall women in the program already had the confidence as a result of being tall. They could go into a public speaking program with no concerns.

Tall people need to think about their height like Caucasians think about white privilege. There is so much that comes with it that we're unaware of. My friend's remark alerted me to that, and I've never forgotten it.



Cher

[Major Nikon]

11. My wife is 6'

She doesn't lie about her height, but she doesn't offer it up very willingly. I suppose a lifetime of people making comments about it gets old after a while.

One thing I've found interesting is people from northern Europe and especially Scandinavians of both sexes tend to be quite tall. My wife is half Danish. I've seen many Danish women that are taller than my wife, but rarely do I see them anywhere else.

[NewJeffCT]

15. I traveled to Europe late last year

and had a connecting flight out of Iceland. Between flights, I went to use the men's room. When I exited the men's room, four women came around the corner and all of them were at least 6 feet tall (the women's room was right next door) - kind of made me do a double take to see four women together that were probably between 6'0" and 6'3" tall. Never saw that when flying out of JFK, LGA or Newark over the years.

[SwissTony]

30. I live in The Natherlands and there are many t all women here.

There's a woman in the village where I live who's a head taller than me (I'm 5' 10&quot - that's barefoot. AND she wears high heels.

[malthaussen]

12. Well, I'm a six foot male...

... and I have a rule that any woman should still be shorter than me in heels, which puts about a 5-8 ceiling on it. Seriously, I don't know why a woman would lie about her height, unless of course she wants to keep her head down.

-- Mal

[TuxedoKat]

13. I never lied about my height

5'8 1/2' -- but when men that were my height or shorter than me would ask my height and when I told them they would say something like: "No way! I'm 5'8", you must be 6 foot!"

[NewJeffCT]

16. I remember being at a party once

Last edited Wed May 20, 2015, 10:11 AM - Edit history (1)

it was pretty crowded and the guy standing next to me told the young woman he was chatting with that he was 5'11" - even though he was clearly shorter than me - it was such a big lie that I rolled my eyes to the woman and when he went off to a get a drink, I told her I'm 5'9" to 5'10" so she said that he must be like 5'7" then.

[TuxedoKat]

37. Yes

I was always baffled when I heard guys say something like that but I never tried to argue with them. Didn't want to hurt their feelings as I figured they were sensitive about their height.

[dawg]

14. Gender norms are an unfortunate part of our culture.

Some women feel less feminine because of their height. That's unfortunate.

Some women feel that I am less masculine because of *my* height. That's a colossal travesty!!!!!

Either way, lots of men and women feel compelled to lie about their heights, and many limit their pool of potential dating partners based on something that shouldn't really matter.

[NJCher]

18. Related question

What do you think about males like Aristotle Onassis and Danny DeVito? They don't seem to mind taller women. Of course, they're so short that their selection of women would be very limited if they had a hang-up about it.

I guess money and talent transcend everything and they can probably do whatever they want with no qualms.



Cher

[Skittles]

19. a gal at work told me she couldn't wear heels too high because of her height

I told her, what a bunch of nonsense - wear the heels and rock them - so what if it makes you 6 feet tall? ROCK THEM!!! She took my advice.

[jakeXT]

20. OKcupid claims women exaggerate their height just like men do

Maybe they are doing it to reduce the number of messages.





a 5' 4" woman gets 60 more contacts each year than a six-footer

http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/the-biggest-lies-in-online-dating/

[NewJeffCT]

21. Interesting - 4'8" women get the most

unsolicited messages, followed by 5'0". After that, women are fairly steady between 5'2" and 5'9" where they start to drop off, then they go down quickly after 5'11"

Men, on the other hand, steadily climb up until peaking at 6'1", but don't have a big dropoff until 6'7"

[treestar]

22. Never heard of it

And what would be the point even?

I had a fellow employee who was 6'. She was an upbeat person and never took offense when people asked her. "Six foot and I don't mind at all." She played basketball in high school of course. Her husband was shorter.

[Arugula Latte]

27. Society says: Women are supposed to take up as little space as possible.

Message: You don't matter, and you're supposed to be tiny. Of course a lot of men sit like they're entitled to all the space in the world.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

28. Something I don't understand

is why the man is "supposed" to be taller than the woman. I am five foot two and have gone out with some extremely tall men. Haven't dated anything under five foot eight. I find that being around a man who is about five foot eight makes me feel better because I don't think they are looming over me or trying to intimidate me. I have known a couple of tall men who make a conscious effort to NOT intimidate shorter people and to be friendly and approachable.

I felt like my mother and grandmother loomed over me to tell me what to do. They were both several inches taller than I am.

I think in my case it comes down to what feels like equality. If the man isn't a whole lot taller and stronger than I am, I feel like I may possibly be taken seriously. And I can look them in the eye and talk to them.They are close to the same size I am physically and I will notice that.

I thought that big men intimidated women because they were smaller. I thought it was just about their size. Then I saw a woman in my employ who was about six feet tall, and a man who was attempting to intimidate her and make her agree to his contractual demands. She is a shrewd businesswoman and she immediately said, "DO NOT INTIMIDATE ME" and went in another room. She refused to deal with him.

From observing that interaction, I discovered that men intimidating women is not only about size, it's about gender. Tall men attempting to intimidate all women, short or tall, and intimidating men who are shorter than they are.

And I don't wear heels. They hurt too much.

[LiberalEsto]

29. Try being rejected by short guys and you'll see

Lots of shorties have some kind of Napoleon complex about having to be gargantuan in importance and presence. They hate having to stand next to tall women because it ruins the spectacle.

[dawg]

33. Goes both ways, though.

Lots of women won't give smaller men the time of day. They want a man to tower over them and make them feel dainty and feminine by comparison.

To be honest, I'm not sure which gender has the bigger hangup about this.

Personally, I can't imagine me ever rejecting a woman because she was taller than me.

[BlueJazz]

31. My first requirement for a Lady is she has something between her ears and it's (at least) ...

...slightly left leaning. This whole height thing baffles me. If being tall was a great thing, a Hummer wouldn't be a piece of shit.

[DebJ]

32. Here's a funny story about a tall young woman and a bunch of short men.

I was the tall young woman. I think I was about 20 years old, mid-1970's.

I was working in a District Office for Ryder Truck Rental. I'm 5'10", but was also wearing heels.I was sitting at my desk when a group of about 5 VIP's from the corporate office in Florida walked into our office. One was the CEO and the rest were his upper echelon VP's. They were going desk-to-desk, shaking hands, and spending a few moments with each employee. Like everyone else, I stood up to greet them. The CEO's face registered absolute horror and shock as I rose and towered very much above him. The entire group of men quickly scurried away, like a bunch of cockroaches when you turn on the lights, and didn't pause at all by my desk to speak with me beyond the hello/handshake.

It's been 40 years, and I'm still laughing.............

[cyberswede]

34. I've not noticed that, myself. I'm 6' tall and would never lie about it

I only wear heels a couple times a year, and when I do, I'm 6'4" or so.

My daughter plays club volleyball - where height is a real advantage - and we see girls that are well over 6' tall all the time (on the older teams). My daughter is 12 and 5'5 1/2" - and she can't wait to get taller.

[Jamaal510]

35. They think that

being tall equates to a lack of femininity (possibly getting bullied for it when they were younger), and that it is an automatic deal-breaker among men. From what I've seen, most don't care about a woman's height and are willing to date someone taller than them, and some (myself included) actually like taller women.

[KamaAina]

36. Beats me.

Then again, I'm 6'3".

5'9" Mom dated a guy several inches shorter for several years. He did, however, have a certain swagger about him.

[olddots]

39. our super materialistic culture mandates body insecurities

and securities .Lately I have been really insecure about my apearance as a 67 year old guy,how should I dress to be appropriate ?

We should all say fuck it and let the branders become mulch .

[DFW]

41. My wife is 5'10"

And I love every centimeter. She has never lied about it. I didn't know any woman would want to. What for?