why are women obsessed with height?


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k374 is offline k374 Post #1  May 15,2009, 8:51pm
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I am not originally from the US but I am wondering why height is such an important factor for women here in the US when women outside the US don't place much emphasis on it. I have lived in Europe and Asia and there are a ton of men 5'6 and 5'7 especially in Spain and Italy. Also there are plenty of short Mexican and Latin American men and of course much of Asia like Japan, Phillippines, India, China, S. Korea...men are mostly short!

Is the obsession of male height here in the US due to media portrayal of that being the ideal representation of a man? If not what is the reason?
 
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peg099 is offline peg099 Post #2  May 15,2009, 9:10pm
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Honestly, in my experience, the women who are most obsessed about height are those that are unusually tall. I've had a couple of my very tall friends (5'11" and over 6 ft) tell me that really short guys hit on them a lot, and they get tired of it. Most other women don't care as much about height.

Though I think in some of the cultures you mention (especially Asia) while the men are short, the women are generally even shorter, so the guy is still usually the taller of the two.
 
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neardc is offline neardc Post #3  May 15,2009, 9:47pm
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If you read some of the threads on these boards, you may well go away with the belief that height is the most important variable that women look for, and that it's impossible for a man under 5'9" to find a mate.

Of course, if you instead walk down the street or go to a park (or wherever) and take note of the couples you see, you will instead conclude that men of all heights seem to find mates (including women who are taller than them).

I'm glad to see someone bring up the point that this does not seem to be such a big issue in many other cultures. One thing that people tend not to realize is the degree to which what one is physically attracted to is in large part a learned behavior; not something that is predetermined at birth. So, although there are cultural expectations that men "should" be taller than their female partners, there is nothing innate that precludes the reverse.

Anyway, the obsession that comes through here doesn't quite play out the same way when it comes to real life...
 
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outlaw1 is offline outlaw1 Post #4  May 15,2009, 10:24pm

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k374 wrote :
I am not originally from the US but I am wondering why height is such an important factor for women here in the US when women outside the US don't place much emphasis on it. I have lived in Europe and Asia and there are a ton of men 5'6 and 5'7 especially in Spain and Italy. Also there are plenty of short Mexican and Latin American men and of course much of Asia like Japan, Phillippines, India, China, S. Korea...men are mostly short!

Is the obsession of male height here in the US due to media portrayal of that being the ideal representation of a man? If not what is the reason?

Excellent observations and interesting info. Yes I think you are correct per the media having a lot of influence. Plus maybe also because American women are taller.

Other countries put heart and soul ahead while Americans are more materialistic. I know, I lived in Europe for a short time. Of course (political correct statement coming) men too can be materialistic.
 
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EugeneDammrod is offline EugeneDammrod Post #5  May 16,2009, 1:51am
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Height is relative. I think you will find that in general women want a man that is at least several inches taller then them, and men want a woman that is several inches shorter then them.

Yes, in general men are shorter in Latin American and Asian countries, but the women there still want a taller mate. I know that height is considered very important in South Korea.

Now is height considered more important in America? I'm not sure, but in my day to day life I see plenty of couples where the men is either close in height, equal in height, or lower in height to his female companion, so obviously there are a lot of women who don't make it a dealbreaker.
 
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DancingFool is offline DancingFool Post #6  May 16,2009, 2:44am
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Take the information on these boards with a huge grain of salt and realize that they do not necessarily reflect the real world. A lot of people come to these boards to complain and what may seem like such a huge issue on the boards, is not an issue for the grand majority of the population.
 
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BikerBeagle is offline BikerBeagle Post #7  May 16,2009, 3:07am
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Height relates to security for women. In America, "tall, dark, and handsome" is pretty much a household term that most women use as a catchall for what they would want to find in a perfect mate. If you break the phrase down, you get this:

Tall - It is difficult to find security and have confidence in someone you have to physically look down on. It's a trick of the mind. Ask any woman here to tell you what is most attractive about a man ...they will say, "confidence" ...and this refers to both his confidence in himself as well as her perceived confidence in him. Taller men are, by and large, generally more confident ...because they've grown up physically looking down on people (again, trick of the mind, not necessarily because they "look down" or don't respect other people).

Dark - This typically indicates an outdoorsy man ...tanned, probably muscular, probably slim in build ...someone who gets outside rather than a pale, overweight couch potato who stays indoors all the time. Likely, he's a competitor, a class A personality.

Handsome - This one goes without saying ...typically indicates a particular bone structure in the face, square jaw line, oblong shape, etc. Obviously, this is good genetics at work and a woman's search for positive genetics IS an innate behavior, even if she is past her reproductive cycle.

Of course, some or all of these can be compensated for by other factors ...success, money ...both of which bring a great deal of confidence and generally indicate intelligence, ambition, an ability to support a family, etc.
 
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trailviews is offline trailviews Post #8  May 16,2009, 4:01am
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DancingFool wrote :
Take the information on these boards with a huge grain of salt and realize that they do not necessarily reflect the real world. A lot of people come to these boards to complain and what may seem like such a huge issue on the boards, is not an issue for the grand majority of the population.
ScienceDirect - Personality and Individual Differences : Conditional mate preferences: Factors influencing preferences for height

Analysis of 2000 personal ads (1000 women/1000 men). "In the personal ads sample, this norm was more strongly enforced by women than by men: 23% of men compared to only 4% of women would accept a dating relationship where the woman was taller." Mean shortest height of a man acceptable by a woman: 5' 8.9" (~50% of men are acceptable). Mean shortest height of a woman acceptable by a man: 5' 0.6" (~95% of women are acceptable).

"Nearly half of men indicated their tallest acceptable date could be taller than them (24%) or their height (23%), while only half (53%) required that their partner be shorter than them. For women, the vast majority indicated that the shortest person they would date would still be taller than them (89%), with only a small minority being willing to accept a mate who was their height (7%) or shorter (4%)"
Last edited by trailviews; May 16,2009 at 4:05am.
 
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EastCoastMermaid is offline EastCoastMermaid Post #9  May 16,2009, 4:19am
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Why do some women prefer taller men?

I guess it's the same reason some men prefer non-overweight women...

And yes, as with both sides of it, it can be obsessive.

Welcome to America
 
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Bandmate is offline Bandmate Post #10  May 16,2009, 4:23am

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The use of the word "obsession" intsead of prefer or preference indicates that the person using it has an issue with the preference.
 
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