by
Mr. Macchiato
Wow, a lot of girls will only date guys who are taller than them!
Mrs. McAllister was right... short girls have a lot easier time finding men.
I went online to get some hard data on height and dating, and came across some
interesting stats.
Studies have shown that women prefer men who are taller - no surprise
there. But did you know that you can make up for being short, by being
much richer than other men? I guess I shouldn't be surprised!
As a 5-foot-8 man, I could get as many dates as a six-footer...
if I made $146,000 more than he did. Here's how those numbers vary for your height, for those of you playing along at home:
- If you are 5 feet tall, you have to make $325k more than a six-footer
- 5-foot-4? You need $229k more.
- 5-foot-6? $183k
- 5-foot-8? As above: $146k
- 5-foot-10? You only need $32k more
Even
a six-foot man has to compete with taller men. If a woman has to
choose between dating him and a 6-foot-4-er, the six-footer would have
to make $43k more to have the same chances of success!
For
women, it's reversed. As you might expect, men prefer being taller
than their dates. So for the ladies: the shorter you
are, the more men will like you. If you are a tall woman, then the odds are stacked against you - but as always in life (it seems), money can make
your problems go away! If you are 5-foot-6 and you would like to
compete with a girl who is 5-foot-even, you can make up for it by
making $59k more. If your competition is only 5-foot-4, then you only
need to make $50k more. Those cash numbers are lower than they are for
men though: I guess guys care less about height than girls do.
If
you are a man who is too short or a woman who is too tall, all is not
lost. You can still attract mates by bringing in the cash! (If you're
a woman though, don't bring in too much cash - that might threaten the
man ha. We'll have to deal with that one in a future post.)
It's
funny: in our earlier post on height, lots of girls mentioned they
prefer a taller mate because he makes them feel "safe and secure".
But according to the data, money also makes women feel secure? I guess in
modern society, financial security is as important as feeling safe and
secure physically.
Let's see how the data maps onto reality: let's do a quick survey of our own.
- For the ladies: would you date a shorter man, if he was extremely financially secure?
- For
the men: if you were dating a taller woman, could someone pay you
enough money to put up with all the Tom Cruise/Nicole Kidman jokes?
Recommend
Comments (94)
Not necessarily. I say I like guys who are taller than I am, but I don't necessarily want a guy to make a lot more money than I do (okay, than I will, since I'm still in school), either. (Though I realize that a guy will often earn more than I, even if we have the same job.) I wouldn't want him to think I'm dating him only for his money, and I don't want to feel like I cannot take care of myself.
That said, if I really like someone, I don't think it would matter how tall, or rich, or whatever he is. If he treats me right and likes me back, I can be happy.
I am 5' '7"and simply have never been comfortable with men who were not a lot taller than I am. Short was a deal killer. As to money, I never cared. As a farmer's daughter, working never scared me. I never have looked for a meal ticket. I make plenty of money on my own.
I doubt I am so usual. But I am sure that a man's money makes a big difference to a lot of girls. Sadly your hypothetical short rich guy, is very likely to end up with a very materialistic girl.
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<td id="HB_Focus_Element" valign="top" width="100%" background="" height="250" unselectable="off">i want to date guys that are taller than i am, but if they are shorter im not going to care if they make more money or not. . .i would rather have a guy that loves me (no matter the height) than a guy that makes more money & just wants MY money or my body
i like short girls...wait...i mean im attracted physically to short girls.... but thats the same as being attracted to someone with brown hair..... i look at the personality... if your tall and have a good personality....that works for me.... if your a short bitch...well not so much
Actually it makes a lot of sense. Men and women often go together because they have the same amount of "attractiveness factor," which is why you see very attractive couples and more homely couples. But when you see a very attractive woman or man with a less attractive partner, the "attractiveness factor" is made up of something other than physical beauty--usually wealth or a really great personality, etc. Same goes for height.
However, I'd like to make the comment that short women are not necessarily more desirable than taller women, especially strong, confident short women. For some reason we tend to scare guys off. =( I have a theory...
I would say that the reason for the lower cash numbers for women have less to do with men caring less about height than women generally making less than men on average in comparison.
Wow.
I remember that article. One of my friends dated a guy who was shorter than her- she 5'8 and he 5'4ish- and the way she described him was "financially secure, very clean [apartment], high end stuff [shampoo, face care or whatever products, his car with a GPS, his tv]" and I was like, wait, personality?? He's nice and treats you well?? Well, eventually the personality wasn't a good match but still. Plus, his torso was weird, or something like that. They weren't physically compatible. You can draw your own conclusions there.
I would like a financially secure man. I PREFER that he be taller than me. It's just weird having to look down at him, even without my shoes!
As a women standing 5'11 I can completely agree. Honestly I never dated a dude shorter than me, they never seemed interested in me. I've always been approached by taller guys, I don't even know how to react to a shorter guy. The media portrays a taller women as more attractive, I thought I had a edge but the petite, 5'0-5'5 still have it. Regardless..
i'm like 5'2 so i think its very unlikely that i'd be attracted to someone who is shorter than me even if they were billionaires. sorry, no midget fetish here.
@coldhands_lipsblue@xanga - i totally agree. i'm 5ft & i dont think money would compensate for his height (or lack of).
To all the single ladies out there I'm 5'11"!
Anyway, yeah, it would be awkward to date a girl taller than I am. I think the same goes for age and income as well. If the girl was older than me, or made more money than me it would be awkward.
how bout both tall and rich? ^^
if he's short, then he's short. i don't care if he's rich. if he's short, but rich..i'd still like a taller guy.
No way. I would never date a guy who is shorter than me.
I definitely plan to make more than enough money in my career. So, if he doesn't make the most money of anyone I know, that's okay. It's not like I'd ever starve on my own.
But it's NOT okay not to have the physical feeling of protection and safety. I can buy material goods myself. I cannot buy the hormones that are released when I'm in the arms of a tall, strong man. I cannot buy the feeling of looking up into his eyes. I cannot buy the comfort of feeling his chin on my head. I cannot buy security when walking alone with my partner at night.
I'll take a physically amazing man over a rich man any day.
But I can't imagine that many 5' even women date 6'4" men! I've tried that, and it got terribly old. I wonder if there is a specific cut off for height that makes someone too tall or too short...It would be interesting if there was an average ratio of female:male height!
I think I can agree with the women on this one. I've always dated taller guys, and I suppose they did make me feel safe. I think it depends on how the men are with dating taller women *which totally wouldn't happen often to 5'2" me*, if they have issues with it, it'll probably be more of a problem than if the woman did.
I would date a shorter guy, wouldn't even matter with the money, as long as he was a good person. Height isn't that big of a deal to me compared to personality and character.
I like guys who arnt to tall and to short.
i'm 5'3" so a vast majority of men are taller than me. no problem there.
regarding women and their common preference for taller men, besides it being about feeling "safe and secure", i think it has more to do with masculinity. taller people, in general, appear more masculine than shorter people.
I'm 5'2, so I can honestly say finding guys who are shorter than me is a pretty tough feat.
As for money, it doesn't matter right now since I'm in college and broke as are most of my peers at this time in our lives. I think the money thing will start to matter to me more when I'm looking to settle down and start a family.
in terms of financial security..... regardless of a woman's income, wealthier men in general appear more attractive. but this isn't necessarily about money here, it's about dignity. when a woman's income exceeds that of her man's, he is more likely to lose his dignity. maybe not in full, but there will be instances. personally, i find it a huge turn off.
so, the majority of men assume women who crave financial security are gold diggers, but they're just seeing things from a close-minded perspective. believe it or not, financially independent women exist. and when these women come across wealthy men, they're not necessarily thinking, "wow, he can buy a ton of things"....instead, they're probably thinking something along the lines of "great, he's probably smart, ambitious, and he probably knows how to take care of himself. he isn't a baby, he is a MAN. i can settle with that...".. simply because financial independence is often associated with said characteristics.
women love masculinity.
No, I don't think enough money will ever make me date a guy shorter than me, and definitely not for that reason. I'm not dating for money. But I will say that no matter the guy I'm dating, I just need him to be financially stable. He doesn't have to be a millionaire; he just has to make enough so that he can support himself and still save money for the future.
This is funny. I knew that financial stability could compensate for height, but it's funny to see exact values. And yes, I would date a shorter guy if he was extremely financially secure. He could only be like 0.5 inches shorter than me though... hahaha. :)
I'm taller than my bf So..
You're right--financial security is also very important.
My experiences have actually run contrary to your stats: I am nearly 6 feet tall and have come across many men who were shorter than me, but interested nonetheless. In fact, I've actually met some short men who are particularly attracted to tall women, and were always drawing attention to my height when I talked to them because they felt self-conscious about being shorter than me and being attracted to me at the same time. Interesting...
Wait wait wait... your income has even the slightest impact on your relationships? You people make me sick!
Like really, I'm going to vomit!