The long and short of it..

I'm sure this subject has been covered before But when I clicked on the 'advanced search' icon it came up with a blank page!

Anyhow my topic regards the dreaded 'how tall?' question. We in the west live in a world where equal rights for men and women aren't exactly, whilst emancipation for women has happened there are still inequalities for both. The one thing that amuses me and disturbs me is how women have demanded to be treated equally, yet they do not treat fairly. For instance women have complained about men always thinking of sex, yet many will refuse to even consider dating a shorter man and they accuse a lot of men of being shallow!

It has got better as you see women with shorter men but there's still that stygma involved with 'short man syndrome' and all other supposed myths. I've had it with girls before where one said "I was worried you were shorter than me" to which I scratched my head in disbelief. Another time was when a girl said "you're the small guy!" even though she neglected to think I had a name, although funnily after that we got more friendly. It's also the tones some people speak such as "he's nice, plus he's tall too!" or "yeah he's short, but a funny guy!". You'll notice the former has positive connotations, whilst the latter negative.

Now before anyone thinks I blame my height for everything I don't, as I know the majority of people aren't ignorant as to let height and other physical features be the 'deciding factor' for them. However there are still people who do and whilst you could say "ignore it, it doesn't matter" it does affect you if people judge you so.

I just can't help thinking that due to being short it somewhat limits the number of women I can go with. Not because I have any hang ups about taller women, which I emphatically don't. But becuase of their perception. That somehow being taller in itself makes one superior, that idea is banal to say the least. Some hardened martial artists are of smaller stature, hell even some rugby players I've seen aren't big but have taken down bigger men with ease.

The 'tall, dark, handsome' motto rings true and it's probably been ingrained somewhat in society.

Anyway this has turned into a rant but I just want to ask ladies and gents whether height is a factor for you when it comes to relationships? Do you know people who use height to judge potential partners? Will short men die out as they're not wanted? (hah maybe not)

*In order to clarify by shorter I mean 3-4 or more.

[edit on 8/3/07 by Flyboy211]

at 5'11 it's not an issue for me or my 6' wife.

Cool, although an inch isn't much ;-). I did say 'shorter' but I mean much shorter, and by that 3-4 or more.