Sunday, 3 February 2013

Does it really matter if a taller girl dates a shorter person?

The classic idea of a heterosexual couple is a shorter girl and a taller man. This has been around for years, but why does it seem to matter so much?

Cassie Stringer, 5’9”, is a nursing student at Algonquin College and the University of Ottawa. She says she would never date a shorter man.

Cassie Stringer stands at a stunning 5'9". 


“As a tall girl, you just don't fit nicely with short guy,” she says. “Cuddling is a no go. I'm a girl and I want to be the little spoon.”

She says she wants to be carried on her wedding day, not carrying someone. This is just her personal preference, and says that other tall girls can date whomever they choose.

“[Tall girls can] do whatever [they] want but I like the idea of my man taking care of me, not some dwarf,” she says. I agree. I’d prefer Legolas to Kili or Fili.

Kelsey Meagher, 6’0”, has never dated a shorter man and doesn’t think she ever would. Her current boyfriend is also 6’0”.

“Personally, I think my height intimidates a lot of boys,” she says. “I am always asked how tall I am and am asked to stand back-to-back to see who is taller. Boys are usually the ones who make me have this competition – not sure exactly why – my assumption is they are intimidated by my height and if they find out I’m shorter than them by a little they have a big ego boost. It’s rather strange.”

Isabelle Mathieu, 5’10” and a half, says she doesn’t have any interest in dating a shorter man, as she is attracted to taller ones. She prefers a taller man because it makes hugging easier. I agree, enough of this face-to-chest-area like when you hug your short friends. It gets real personal, real fast.

Isabelle Mathieu, at a beautiful 5'10" and a half.


It seems to just be personal preference. I just happen to be attracted to taller men, but I respect the girls who don’t care about height and date shorter men, because I have seen it. At a friend’s wedding, her maid of honor (a stunning 6’0” woman) danced with her old high school boyfriend who was around 5’7” or so. It was very cute to say the least.

From what I can tell, it seems to just be girls who have this belief.

Chris Magee, 5’7” has been dating his girlfriend since high school. He says it wouldn’t matter to him if she was taller, but says she would not date him if he was shorter.

James Eng, 5’5”, has dated taller girls before and says height doesn’t matter. “Why would it? It doesn’t change anything,” he says. Eng focuses more on personality than the way a girl looks.

Jordan Morlidge, 6’0, also doesn’t care if a girl is taller. “It's rare that I find a girl taller than me,” he says. ”But I wouldn't feel emasculated if I dated one.”

Tall girls are just attracted to tall men because they just want to feel safe and secure. Not to say that a shorter man wouldn’t keep you safe, but they would just feel safer with someone bigger than them. Personally, I’d prefer someone taller so that I can feel small for once. Constantly being reminded that you’re bigger than everyone else can really take a toll on your self-image. It takes tall girls a really long time to accept that fact that they’re tall.

When I was 12, I convinced myself I was only 5’9” (I was really 5’10”) because my favourite member of my favourite band at the time was that tall and if we ever ended up dating it would be okay. Yeah, like that was ever going to happen.

I used to slouch to seem shorter, which I’m paying for now, and sit down as much as possible to seem smaller. Once I accepted the fact that I was tall and I wasn’t getting any shorter, I was able to be an overall happier person. It took a very tall, and very strange, girl I went to high school with to see that tall girls could be okay with being tall.


1 comment:

  1. Fantastic, Kate. I loved meeting these fab women in your piece.

    ReplyDelete