The Last Prejudice: Height

tall_woman_and_man_1As we’ve probably mentioned before, Dadwagon is home to several mixed marriages (and, I guess, one mixed divorce). Asians figure prominently, as do Jews, with a bit of Mexican and slightly ethnic whiteness (γειά σου, Mr. Bonanos). And when I survey my circles of urbane New York friends, there’s hardly a homogeneous pairing among them. We urbanites, we like difference, I guess. We see it as a plus, because as radical intellectual communist lefties we want everyone to look and think exactly the same—sort of brownish and multilingual. Suck it, Sarah Palin!

But of all the (straight) couples I know, there’s one pairing I simply haven’t seen: a short guy with a tall girl. Oh, there may have been dates here and there—I think I even went out once with a tall Yvonne—but no lasting relationships. The converse, of course, is common. One of my dear friends isn’t even five feet tall, yet she’s married to a guy well over six feet; she calls herself a “spinner”—jokingly, I think.

So, do these couples actually exist, and in any sort of significant numbers? In a world where many of us men are happy that our wives out-earn us, where we’re happy to take on non-traditional roles like housework and cooking, where the flouting of such stereotypes is one of our great joys, why aren’t more of us involved with Amazons?

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About Matt

Matt Gross writes about travel and food for the New York Times, Saveur, Gourmet, and Afar, where he is a Contributing Writer. When he’s not on the road, he’s with his wife, Jean, and daughter, Sasha, in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn.

9 thoughts on “The Last Prejudice: Height

  1. I’m a tall woman (a little under 5’10”) and almost all my boyfriends have been shorter than I am. My husband is shorter than I am, as is my father – in fact, so far I’m the tallest person in my entire family. I never consciously sought out shorter men but it never bothered me either – and yes, I wear heels all the time, making me closer to 6 feet.

  2. I think the problem might be sample size.

    Even though I’m 6’4″ I only dated women who were about 5’7″ to 5’10” and I married the tallest woman I dated. Of the women I encountered before I was married, I only knew 2 over 6′. One wasn’t interested in me, and one I wasn’t interested in.

    Quite simply there aren’t enough women over 5’10” that men can start relationships with, whether the men are tall or short.

  3. didn’t michael j fox marry someone taller than he is?

    back in the day, it was not unusual for me to date taller women, but at 5″7 (okay, that’s bullshit, i’m 5’6. and a half. possibly 3/4), there were more woman my height or taller, spinners, of course, notwithstanding.

    but in the end, i married another shorty. my wife is 5’2.

    so, long story short, i think you’re on to something.

  4. I know at least 3 couples – where the girl is way taller than the guy. One of them, a model- who’s about 6 feet tall, married this 5’4 round guy. They look like a number 10 when they’re next to each other 😀

    As for me.. I’m one of those 5’2 women- my will-be-husband is 6 feet.

  5. Back in middle school, I kinda sorta dated a girl much taller than myself. I even have a picture, taken at some church Valentine’s Day function, of her and I, and she towers over me with her shoes off.

    The view? Magnificent . . .

    😉

  6. I know of one couple where the woman is 5’10” and the guy 5’9″ but other than that none.

    I am only 5’9″ and I have never dated anyone taller than me.

    I remember a biology teacher telling me that the reason woman are shorter than men is so their hair is right below our nose and that they release a lot of fermones out of said hair. He also said this is why they flip their hair.

  7. One of my best friends is 6 ft tall and her husband is 5’9″. I am 5’7″ and my husband is slightly shorter than me but he won’t admit it! 😉 I think that both the woman and the man have to be fairly secure to have the woman be the taller one in the pairing. That being said, even some of my shorter (5’4″) single girlfriends seem to suffer from some “height prejudice” (would prefer to date only men over 6′)! IMO, as long as there is physical attraction there, it doesn’t matter.

  8. My girlfriend is 5’9″ tall, willowy, and 130lbs; I’m 5’4″ tall, (or 5’4″ short, more accurately) broad-shouldered and stockily built at 170lbs. We definitely get some weird looks from people who can’t get their brains around us being together.
    We’re totally crazy about each other, compatible on so many levels and, even though you didn’t ask – but I know you were thinking it! – our sex life is great.

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