How relevant is height within society?

[Redmar]

This seems something I always wondered about. How do the shorter guys tend to view the fact they are short and vice versa too? Something so painfully wired within our minds and consciousness cannot go by ignored, especially when it comes to dating standards/culture, business, politics and even within academia where it shows to have multiple outcomes in relation to life depending on a person's height. As a guy standing 1.97m tall (6'5 and a half) I've experienced situations where my height came as a huge advancement to progress and other times but less frequent not so. Curious to see what other people have to share to this.

[Kivan]

Perhaps it's true in dating. From my experience women tend to prefer taller guys and ignore the short ones.

[frankhammer]

Tall people, especially men, are deluded in believing shorter and normal folk see them as anything other than gangly useless pricks who can barely do anything useful in this average height world. I've never seen nor experienced one with the self-determination of normal height folk. Almost everything is too hard, too low, too awkward or too difficult for them. Make of that what you will but that is from years of experience dealing with all types of people.

[stellan]

in terms of dating, most women want to feel feminine and submissive in the relationship, so being with a tall guy makes them feel like that. taller= more masculine

[Luso]

Well 1st we got a culture of online dating, from my experience as a 5 ft 9 (175 cm) guy, and from hearing others, it does matter a lot to a majority of women. A lot of women nowadays either want a guy that is just taller than them, or have standards like "only 6ft +" or even more drastically like "only 6ft 3+) and this can be understood by women's simple attraction preference for the feature, or more specifically their biological want for a taller, stronger man. (I think both).


Besides dating, it seems, for instance, to be president you'd need on the taller spectrum of society. In a sense, it seems it's a tribalistic virtue that the taller man is more trustworthy (not necessarily though), more powerful, more controlling, and protective over other people.

Some info regarding president (leader) height:

Why Voters Favor Tall Presidential Candidates
Taller leaders are seen as stronger leaders, researchers say. And height has been particularly important in wartime. Consider Woodrow Wilson at 5 feet, 11 inches, and Franklin D. Roosevelt at 6 feet, 2 inches. “In particular, during times of threat, we have a preference for physically formidable leaders,” Murray told ​​The Wall Street Journal in 2015.

In the research paper Tall claims? Sense and Nonsense About the Importance of Height of US Presidents, published in Leadership Quarterly, the authors concluded:

"The advantage of taller candidates is potentially explained by perceptions associated with height: taller presidents are rated by experts as 'greater', and having more leadership and communication skills. We conclude that height is an important characteristic in choosing and evaluating political leaders."
"Height is associated with some of the same perceptions and outcomes as is strength. For example, individuals with taller stature are perceived as better leaders and attain higher status within a wide variety of modern political and organizational contexts."

[Celestia]

I think it probably affects relationships the most. As Stellan stated women like feeling submissive with a taller guy.

I don't think it affects business much. I know plenty of successful short business men, and their height doesn't seem to bother women very much.

$$ is power ;-)

[ÁGUIA]

Some short people walk tall, some others are tall and walk short.

[Redmar]

I think it probably affects relationships the most. As Stellan stated women like feeling submissive with a taller guy.

I don't think it affects business much. I know plenty of successful short business men, and their height doesn't seem to bother women very much.

$$ is power ;-)

What I'm more referring to is how the mangement is structured within companies. The most succesful entrepreneurs and ceo's tend to be taller than the average person. I think what Luso pointed out about being tall correlates with more trustworthy tendencies, being protective/mature are relieving and key things within business, since shareholders, employees and the chairman rely on the day to day decisions made by the ceo and/or topmanagement.

[Luso]

^ yes it is an unfortunate truth that sucks for guys under (i'd say) 5 ft 10-11- like me. Although I feel taller than most people or at least avg where I am, the tall guys 6 ft 1+ are sought after way more in dating... but also in terms of business, the attributes (protective, strong, willingness to be assertive, etc.) are way more assumed to be true for a tall male than for a short male. But I chalk the truth to putting more time and effort into bettering other parts of my character and intellect as my height isn't controllable.

[frankhammer]

The Apricity is so single dimensioned when discussing height. Every time, this ends up a discussion about relationships. How about thinking real world repercussions? The fact that very little on this planet is made for this minority is completely lost upon people. I manufacture products and the rare very tall man rarely gets his way. Bar a man cave for him, all products are manufactured for the women and children in residences. In commercial fit-outs, again, they are not a consideration.

Think outside TA's little box for a moment.