Female preference for tall men is a function of society, not biology.

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The modern equivalent of blaming Eve for the fall of mankind may be blaming Stone Age societies for today's gender relations. Sharon Begley has a nice summary of this attitude in her recent Newsweek story on evolutionary psychology:

Men who were promiscuous back then were more evolutionarily fit, the researchers reasoned, since men who spread their seed widely left more descendants. By similar logic, evolutionary psychologists argued, women who were monogamous were fitter; by being choosy about their mates and picking only those with good genes, they could have healthier children. Men attracted to young, curvaceous babes were fitter because such women were the most fertile; mating with dumpy, barren hags is not a good way to grow a big family tree.

So if all of this is true, it should be true for all humankind. It should especially be true in modern hunting and gathering societies. Unfortunately, as Begley details in her article, the evidence rarely bears out the these theories. (I am aware that not all evolutionary psychologist are obsessed with cavemen sex, but here I have chosen sensationalism over dry talk of spandrels. Sorry.)

One of the strongest trends in modern mating is women's preference for taller males. In post-industrial cultures, there are far fewer women married to men that are shorter than them than would be expected by statistical chance. Are women hard-wired to think that taller men would kill way more giraffes than shorter men, thus providing a luxurious Stone Age lifestyle? How better to test this than to look at a society that actually hunts giraffes?

The Hadza of Tanzania are among the few hunter-gatherer people left on earth. Despite threats from agriculturalists, diminishing game, and an Emirati land grab, the Hadza have maintained their traditional lifestyle. To see if actual hunter-gatherers had height preferences in their mates, Rebecca Sear and Frank W. Marlowe examined mate selection in the Hadza. They also wanted to see if the Hadza married people that had similar physical characteristics to themselves—for example, did tall, thin Hadza marry other tall, thin Hadza?

The Hadza proved to be far less judgemental about height than the Western press. There was no evidence of height preference: About as many women were married to shorter men as would have been expected by random chance. There was also no correlation between the couples' height, weight, BMI, or percent body fat. Sear and Marlowe concluded that "mating is random with respect to size in this population."

Why don't the Hadza care about height? Sear and Marlowe speculated that since the Hadza live in small, homogenous communities, they could make decisions based on the entire health history of a potential partner, obviating the need for height as a proxy of health. Or height might actually be a disadvantage in a food-limited society, since large people require more food. Though this study doesn't explain why Westerners value male height so highly, it does illustrate the peril of assuming that human preferences are set in Stone Age stone.

Photograph of a tall couple by David De Lossy/Photodisc/Getty Images.

Tags: gender, Science, what men want in a mate, women

Miriam Goldstein is a doctoral student at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif.

Comments

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most men are short

By: jheri | Sat, 09/05/2009 - 12:57

I'm 6'3, so most men are short to me. When I go out with someone who is shorter, he often says he can't deal with the pressure of being starred at and people he knows will joke about him. I get a hard time for not being with someone who is taller than me. Some tall women get very upset when they see a really tall guy with a "csw" (child sized woman).

I've come to the conclusion that I don't care because demanding a taller guy narrows the field dramatically.

I do have to deal with short guys who have a thing about tall women. This is very strong for some and I don't know if they are just trying to make a statement about their own height or what. There is a steady supply of this kind of guy, but they make terrible dates because they are so focused on themselves and the only thing they see in you is that your head is able theirs.

When I talk to other women the first set of questions usually centers on "how do you find clothes" and the second on "how do you find guys" - they are surprised that I don't limit myself to guys who are taller than 6'3.

What I find is after you get to know someone for awhile, as long as it isn't someone who has a fetish about tall women, the he's shorter issue goes away. Of course you have to get to that point and that can be a challenge.

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if FAT is FEMINIST issue...then im afraid SHORT is a mens issue

By: p.bateman | Fri, 08/14/2009 - 13:12

well ibchuck it true that women overwhelmingly are attracted to tall men ......and now theyre ashamed of it!
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i hear feminists cry about how FAT IS A FEMINIST ISSUE (that stoopid jessica valenti's website had an article) but the fact is that if youre a short man youre pretty much screwed as far as dating and sexual opportunities are concerned. and also all the male models and actors are tall....fuck you FAT BRIGADE!
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if youre fat, you can still lose weight and there are fat men too ...remember!! but even the women as short as midgets want tall men.
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should you resent this as a short man? NO!
the only thing you should point out is that men dont complain about it...they are are not going hysterical and cynical just like feminists are going over the fat issue. because men have learned that life isnt fair sometimes and you have to suck it up. you've got to face the problems. but feminists tend to WHINE about womens problems.
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i dont see men complaining about being SHORT. i dont see men protesting about the social disadvantages of being short. and i suggest the feminists can also shut the fuck that 'fat is a feminist issue' and suck it up. life isnt fair.

ibchuck....youre short, rejected by women, and go to hookers !?

By: p.bateman | Fri, 08/14/2009 - 13:16

the worst part is that when a man who is rejected by women (for being short or whatever) goes to a prostitute for sexual pleasure and he is scorned by women for being a pig/misogynist... they just dont want you to breathe sometimes.

dont feel ashamed for going to prostitutes. dont let anyone tell you that its wrong.

Don't Want No Short Short Man

By: ibchuck | Tue, 08/11/2009 - 21:04

Hi there. I'm not quite sure how I surfed into this site but here I am and seeing one of my favorite pet peeves. Women don't want short guys. Period. Well, guess what? I'm a guy and I'm short. 5'6". So how has my life been in terms of relationships with women? Haha. You have to be kidding. Can we spell rejection? Throughout my life, and I'm on the wrong side of 50 now, I have been completely ignored by 85% of women and openly "dissed" by the other 15%. A ltttle bit of alcohol and the support of others lets a woman feel free to say what she really thinks. And for all the BS about seeking a man who is sensitive and nuturing and funny and expressive the reality is that a man must LOOK like a man or else he is not even considered.

It took the popular dating services to migrate to the Internet for this to be carved in stone regardless of what may be said in public by a woman. Online sites work with data bases and what you fill in as acceptable or non acceptable decides who you will be shown. And women don't put 5'6" as acceptable when they come to the line about height.

Anyway, I'll check out the rest of this site to see what it is about and then move on. Thanks for reading this whatever your opinions may be. And for those who are curious as to what a "reject" does for female companionship, I discovered, rather late in life I am afraid, the world of paid sex. So now I travel to different countries combining sightseeing with physical, and hopefully a bit of emotional, pleasure. Maybe not the life I once imagined as a young man entering the world but it could be worse. Have a good one.

PS: I'm also a nice guy. Really. And women DESPISE nice guys. :)

robwferris

By: p.bateman | Mon, 08/03/2009 - 10:44

you are conflating 2 things here
1 your view that the evolutionary explanation for womens preference for tall men is false, is a lie
2 your personal agenda that womens preference for taller men is a form of discrimination (heightism)
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i have no stake in the evolutionary explanations and if they can be proved false by social explanations then good. im not trying to defend the evolutionary study here. i have a few points to make.
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(1)i dont understand why you mention "media is promoting an anthropological myth" the myth/lie according to you (as i understand) is that womens preference for taller men is evolutionary. yes, im not questioning that the 'evolutionary' part is a myth, but how exactly is the media promoting it. can you give examples.
you mean like having tall male models, porn stars, actors etc. im afraid thats not pushing a myth, thats just showing what people really want to see and what people are willing to pay to see.
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(2) you have very conveniently (and cleverly) bunched together discrimination in hiring/grants, in societies which have no laws in place to ensure fairness, with the fact that we (in the civilized developed world) have no laws in place to check height based dating discrimination. cant imagine you drew parallels between these two. guess what... those societies are WRONG...they SHOULD have laws in place to check discrimination in hiring and giving grants. its just plain stupid to suggest that such a personal matter of peoples lives should be regulated, just for the sake of political correctness.
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(3) you are making a mountain out of a mole hill. do you really think women need a scientific study to change their preferences? you are exaggerating the importance/effect of a study on the preferences of women. the evolutionary studies didnt make women go for tall men to begin with, nor will the fact that they have been BUSTED is going to make women change their preference.
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(4) the discussion cant be confined to height, because then by your logic it is also discrimination that men and women prefer to date and have sex with goodlooking people? you would call that looks based discrimination or LOOKISM. where the hell is it going to end? it is better and practicable to keep certain things in the realm of personal choice and not tinker with it because of some hyper-equality/fairness agenda.
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5) why cant you see height as part of the LOOKS and attractiveness of a person. why do you see it separately. if good skin, hair, a square jaw, deep voice, and tall height is part of what people consider attractive then so be it.
rejecting a person for dating/sex on basis of looks(and therefore height) is acceptable just like it is acceptable to reject a person for an accountancy job for lack of math skills OR rejecting a person for a football team for lack of athletic ability. because for the 'job' of relationship/sex, looks(and therefore height) is a quality thats relevant to the job.

pbateman

By: robwferris | Fri, 07/31/2009 - 21:59

"it is, but only in the sense of eradicating discrimination on the basis of height in professions (pay, promotions, equal opportunity) not in the area of PERSONAL LIVES. if people want to date tall people, that is not heightism....that is just their preference."

We may agree that if mass media promote an anthropological myth, then it is in the separate interest of science and social justice to characterize that as promotion of a lie and harmful form of social discrimination, respectively. While sexual discrimination, as one feature of social discrimination, is clearly considered the territory of personal choice within many societies, so are things like hiring and managing access to grants. Though some forms of the latter two are often illicit, such as discriminating upon the basis of race when interviewing candidates, no law or statute exists mandating any affirmative action on the basis of personal sexual choice towards a particular race or ethnicity. However, science seeks truth, and not fashion, so when a demonstration that no natural preference for copulation with one race or another exists, it may characterize a demonstration of media promoting the sexual advantages of one race over another as promoting a lie. Though it may seem threatening to the notion of free will that media can be shown influencing a change from indigenous communities' sexual practices, it is axiomatic that science does not characterize the change as wayward, bad or wrong. However, within the realm of social justice, fairness and equality, that practice may be characterized as such. The objective of science is only truth... how one uses it is a political and fashionable matter. So in my personal preference, I choose equality and fairness over disparity and cruelty. Heightism is wrong.

"misleasding anecdotes? you mean like that of TINYREDCAR here? where she gives an err anecdote of a 6 ft 2 woman (how often does that happen !)being married to a shorter guy. or her personal preference for shorter men? i repeat why are some people acting so defensive and seem so threatened by the overwhelming phenomenon that women do go for taller men."

I am not here to defend another's logic even if it resembles my logic. I am here to contribute my perspective and identify parts of others' which do not mesh with my own as a basis of discourse. In other words, I'm not responsible for a TINYREDCAR.

"soberly compiled science? you mean like the science where a forgotten tribe in africa prefer shorter men or something? so when the 'science' givs us politically correct conclusions...accept it. but when the science gives us politically incorrect inclusions.....fcuking silence it, call it biased etc."

Refer to my first paragraph. I did not suggest to 'silence' anything but instead promote the intent of science-- the characterization of truth and debunking of myth. If doing so uncovers what I consider a malign custom, then I consider it my personal choice to promote it as bad fashion.

However, I'm open to the suggestion that promoting such a lie and discrimination may promote a healthier human (master?) race, or something... but I'll forewarn you, the chances of me agreeing here are very, very slim.

robwferris

By: p.bateman | Thu, 07/30/2009 - 13:33

"Anti-heightism is just another civil rights and social equality movement"

it is, but only in the sense of eradicating discrimination on the basis of height in professions (pay, promotions, equal opportunity) not in the area of PERSONAL LIVES. if people want to date tall people, that is not heightism....that is just their preference.

"If you can't refute these findings with other soberly-compiled science, why try to with misleading anecdotes?"

misleasding anecdotes? you mean like that of TINYREDCAR here? where she gives an err anecdote of a 6 ft 2 woman (how often does that happen !)being married to a shorter guy. or her personal preference for shorter men? i repeat why are some people acting so defensive and seem so threatened by the overwhelming phenomenon that women do go for taller men.

soberly compiled science? you mean like the science where a forgotten tribe in africa prefer shorter men or something? so when the 'science' givs us politically correct conclusions...accept it. but when the science gives us politically incorrect inclusions.....fcuking silence it, call it biased etc.

Well, well, well

By: robwferris | Wed, 07/29/2009 - 20:29

You know, it had always been agonizing how very obvious this is to me. I'm glad Miriam and the team at DoubleX was thorough and brave enough to produce these findings in a mainstream publication and format.

Like so many other things, modern society and its media have molested what apparently was (and in some places still is) the natural, or indigenous, social features of human communities.

Male height is not necessarily exceptional. We've made a lot of huge mistakes about skin pigmentation... cranial shape... sex... et cetera, all of which were exacerbated throughout history by civilized, and in most degree modern, media.

It follows that I'm very disappointed to see the previously posting guys seem so bitter. Anti-heightism is just another civil rights and social equality movement. If you can't refute these findings with other soberly-compiled science, why try to with misleading anecdotes? They stink of bovine excrement.

Don't Want No Short Short Man

Comments

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By: beckham_250 | Sun, 09/20/2009 - 07:44

most men are short

By: jheri | Sat, 09/05/2009 - 12:57

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By: juciyzcl | Mon, 08/31/2009 - 04:40

if FAT is FEMINIST issue...then im afraid SHORT is a mens issue

By: p.bateman | Fri, 08/14/2009 - 13:12

ibchuck....youre short, rejected by women, and go to hookers !?

By: p.bateman | Fri, 08/14/2009 - 13:16

Don't Want No Short Short Man

By: ibchuck | Tue, 08/11/2009 - 21:04

robwferris

By: p.bateman | Mon, 08/03/2009 - 10:44

pbateman

By: robwferris | Fri, 07/31/2009 - 21:59

robwferris

By: p.bateman | Thu, 07/30/2009 - 13:33

Well, well, well

By: robwferris | Wed, 07/29/2009 - 20:29

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