Discrimination Against Short Men Discredits the Claim That Women Seldom Objectify Men

Charlotte Gill recently wrote an excellent article in The Independent where she exposed women's hypocrisy regarding how many women treat short men and how women hypocritically then expect men to not fat shame them. This is the sort of honest, self-reflecting article that deserves to be commended due to how rarely the subject-matter is covered as well as how she approached the topic.



Her article will serve as a worthy basis for us to go a little deeper into this subject of male "objectification" in female mate preference. Let's look at some of the note-able quotes from the article.

"[S]omething strange and unacceptable in our culture has happened where women think it's ok to publicly slate their petite counterparts, and dismiss them romantically, based on their height.If you don’t believe me, you need only look at the statistics. Data compiled by OK Cupid shows that being a shorter man is considerably less advantageous in the dating world, with taller guys consistently receiving more messages and getting more sex from women than the vertically challenged."

Even though it is their right to choose men based on any criteria they want, we have to admit that women choosing men based on their height and then turning around and telling us they merely want a good man is extremely dishonest and it's every bit as shallow as men choosing women based on their breast measurements. And yes men should have that right as well. The Ok Cupid data is always extremely interesting to look up and the fact that Charlotte utilized that data demonstrates how keen her eyes are for cutting through the bullshit women(and men) often tell us concerning their mate preferences.


"This sentiment is now reflected on dating apps such as Tinder, where women's profiles often include height requirements."

As shallow as men can be sometimes, I have never heard of men having a breast size requirement listed in his dating profile. So if men are shallow for at least having the decency to keep their breast size preferences to themselves then what does it say about women when they list height requirements in their dating profiles?

"But what especially vexes me is this double standard of women criticising and making fun of short men, then expecting them to tolerate all different types of weight (which isn't even a fixed state). For a man to openly reject a woman because he found her fat would be social suicide."

This part of the article almost elicited a standing ovation from me as she keenly shined light onto the extreme double standard exhibited by women on how they expect men to accept them despite being heavier than average while shunning men who are shorter than average. Psychology Today did an article on female mate preference where it also mentioned height requirements but it let us in on more insight into WHY women lust for taller men and don't see short men as capable partners.


"According to a University of British Columbia study (2011), it's not only height to which women are drawn. The study found that the social and emotional image a man presents was crucial to sexual attraction. Specifically, the study found that women were least attracted to smiling, happy men, preferring those who looked proud and powerful or moody and ashamed. This finding supports all those tabloid-esque articles in women’s magazines which suggest that women love the bad boys, and that may be part of the problem: Women just don’t believe short men can be bad boys"


According to this, the bad boy preference is probably one of the underlying reasons why women often shun short men. So just how extreme is this height requirement women expect in prospective dates? Do they really shun a high enough percentage of men for this to really be a concern. Well just take a look at how fanatical one sample of women were about height requirements according to the New York Post.


"It’s a tall order dating women in the Big Apple.The likelihood that a man under 5-foot-9 is contacted by a Manhattan or Bronx woman online is a scant 1.2 percent, with Brooklyn coming in with a paltry 2.4 percent response rate"

As you can see, less than 6% of women in the sample would date a man who was shorter than average. I have never in my life heard of anything showing me that less than 6% of men would exclude women with small breasts as potential dates or women who were heavier than average. Sexual and physical objectification is a hot topic these days and particularly the way men are accused of always objectifying women, so the next time the subject of comes up in your day to day life, just keep this information in mind.