I briefly dated a 6’3” guy who said he liked tall women because he liked to look them in the eye. For many reasons we didn’t work out, not the least because I’m 5’3”

On the other hand, I married a man who is 6’1”. It sounds grosser than it really is, but he’s more familiar with short women since his mom is 4’11” (his dad was 6’3”). Our son is 13 and is on the growth trajectory to also be 6’1” despite our shorter women’s genes.

I’m a tall guy (6’5”) and have always been attracted to shorter women. I dated all kinds and my wife is 5’7”. The shortest woman I had a relationship with was 4’11”.

Anonymous wrote:1. I am a 6’4.5” man. My wife is 5’4”. Agree to each their own. For me it feels nice to be this much taller. Like I’m the man.

2. The comment earlier about screening for health issues seems kind of off. I don’t know. I’m a freak g physical specimen, if I do say so. An aging one with a desk job now, but a very accomplished athlete and strong as hell and can run long distance. I would have been a very obvious selection back when fighting and labor mattered a ton. Fortunately I’m not an idiot so I make a decent living now, but anyway, teeing a few hundred years and you certainly as a woman would not wish to screen me out. The opposite. I concede my physical situation is waaaay less relevant in the modern life I lead, why with civilization and no pillaging and battling and killing as a lifestyle

My sister is 6'1" and her husband is 5'7".

There is actually an interesting study from 2006 that looks at height among other factors for men & women in online dating:

"Height matters for both men and women, but mostly in opposite directions. Women like tall men (Figure 5.4). Men in the 6’3 - 6’4 range, for example, receive 65% more first-contact e-mails than men in the 5’7 - 5’8 range. In contrast, the ideal height for women is in the 5’3- 5’8 range, while taller women experience increasingly worse outcomes. For example, the average 6’3 tall woman receives 42% fewer e-mails than a woman who is 5’5."

https://home.uchicago.edu/~hortacsu/onlinedating.pdf

So, the unkind "sure, Jan" poster is leaning in to a cultural negative stereotype about tall women, which is why the other poster pushed back. "Sure, Jan" poster may be correct about the societal implications of height for women but is punching down at a group that is actually discriminated against when dating, despite the anecdotes from the OP & others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marry a short woman and you risk having short kids, even if you are tall. Short genes can be strong. I can understand a short woman wanting to dilute them, though.

Tall genes have a lot of risk to them though- tall people suffer from way more health issues. Women like tall men because they look like they can fight/protect better, a masculine quality, but without that factor I think the health issues associated with tallness would probably outweigh any benefits, strictly genetically speaking. Your best bet is probably average height, so around 5'4 for women and 5'10 for men, for the ideal genetic fitness scenario

Generally, short + tall = average height kids.

Nope, usually they inherit the height from one side or another (usually tallness is more dominant)

+1

I’m 5’ 6” but my brother is 6’1”. All the men on my mother’s side of the family had tall men and average to short women.
My brother married a 5’ 0” wife with the same tall men/ short women genes in her family. Their two sons are 6’2” and 6’5”. The 6’5” son is only 15.
My young adult daughter is beautiful and wicked smart but only 5’ 3” due to being a premie. If any guy were to pass her over for marriage on height, they would be foolish. The odds are she will have tall sons.

I am 5’3” and wish I were taller, but no man I wanted has ever said no to me. I am 38 now and still good looking, but used to be objectively beautiful. I wore heels (like most other girls) and I am pretty smart, well educated, fit with sexy curves. Men loved me! I am sure your daughter’s height will not be an issue. Plus 5’3” is almost average so your daughter won’t stand out as being short.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marry a short woman and you risk having short kids, even if you are tall. Short genes can be strong. I can understand a short woman wanting to dilute them, though.

Tall genes have a lot of risk to them though- tall people suffer from way more health issues. Women like tall men because they look like they can fight/protect better, a masculine quality, but without that factor I think the health issues associated with tallness would probably outweigh any benefits, strictly genetically speaking. Your best bet is probably average height, so around 5'4 for women and 5'10 for men, for the ideal genetic fitness scenario

Generally, short + tall = average height kids.

Nope, usually they inherit the height from one side or another (usually tallness is more dominant)

+1

I’m 5’ 6” but my brother is 6’1”. All the men on my mother’s side of the family had tall men and average to short women.
My brother married a 5’ 0” wife with the same tall men/ short women genes in her family. Their two sons are 6’2” and 6’5”. The 6’5” son is only 15.
My young adult daughter is beautiful and wicked smart but only 5’ 3” due to being a premie. If any guy were to pass her over for marriage on height, they would be foolish. The odds are she will have tall sons.

Anonymous wrote:Curious because when I see a tall woman she's always paired up.

I dated a guy who was 6’4 who only dated tall women. So what? He was an alcoholic

Anonymous wrote:1. I am a 6’4.5” man. My wife is 5’4”. Agree to each their own. For me it feels nice to be this much taller. Like I’m the man.

2. The comment earlier about screening for health issues seems kind of off. I don’t know. I’m a freak g physical specimen, if I do say so. An aging one with a desk job now, but a very accomplished athlete and strong as hell and can run long distance. I would have been a very obvious selection back when fighting and labor mattered a ton. Fortunately I’m not an idiot so I make a decent living now, but anyway, teeing a few hundred years and you certainly as a woman would not wish to screen me out. The opposite. I concede my physical situation is waaaay less relevant in the modern life I lead, why with civilization and no pillaging and battling and killing as a lifestyle

Ahahah I like you! You remind me of my ex boyfriend. He was a Marine but “only” 6’. He would always talk about being able to club trees, move rocks, lift heavy machinery and fighting the opponent.

1. I am a 6’4.5” man. My wife is 5’4”. Agree to each their own. For me it feels nice to be this much taller. Like I’m the man.

2. The comment earlier about screening for health issues seems kind of off. I don’t know. I’m a freak g physical specimen, if I do say so. An aging one with a desk job now, but a very accomplished athlete and strong as hell and can run long distance. I would have been a very obvious selection back when fighting and labor mattered a ton. Fortunately I’m not an idiot so I make a decent living now, but anyway, teeing a few hundred years and you certainly as a woman would not wish to screen me out. The opposite. I concede my physical situation is waaaay less relevant in the modern life I lead, why with civilization and no pillaging and battling and killing as a lifestyle

Anonymous wrote:Really? From what I've seen with my friend group it's the opposite. The tall girls always have issues dating and when they do date it's often with short men. For some reason the super short girls seem to be always boo-ed up with some 6 foot+ man. It's very strange

My husband is 6ft 5 and I'm 5ft 6...nothing strange about it..

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marry a short woman and you risk having short kids, even if you are tall. Short genes can be strong. I can understand a short woman wanting to dilute them, though.

Tall genes have a lot of risk to them though- tall people suffer from way more health issues. Women like tall men because they look like they can fight/protect better, a masculine quality, but without that factor I think the health issues associated with tallness would probably outweigh any benefits, strictly genetically speaking. Your best bet is probably average height, so around 5'4 for women and 5'10 for men, for the ideal genetic fitness scenario

Generally, short + tall = average height kids.

Nope, usually they inherit the height from one side or another (usually tallness is more dominant)

I hope that’s true, but it does not seem to be in my case: mom 5’3”, dad 6’2”, DD9 55% (was tall until 6 and has been losing since), DD7 45% (was also taller and has been losing %), DS4 85% but might follow his sisters and lose % after 5 or so….
I wonder if perhaps they will just grow later as both DH and I developed on the later side of normal (13 for me) (16-18 DH)

Anonymous wrote:Curious because when I see a tall woman she's always paired up.

Yes. I know at least one couple who got together because both are tall, slim and educated, they were looking for similar people, facial beauty wasn't as big of a factor.

I went to grad school with a guy who only had any interest in women 5’10 or taller. He was very rich and famous within a certain field (no idea why he was in grad school at all).

The funny thing was he was 5’8” so I think it was a bit hard for him to land his “type,” especially since he seemed to only want intellectual peers, not gold digger model types. He ended up married to a tall blonde corporate lawyer.

I don't know. I'm 5'9 and never had issues. I think it's an advantage for marriage as men want tall kids.

The only place it was a disadvantage was that I limited myself to 6 ft+. Now, I would not.