Short men occupy the lowest rudder in the dating chain. Their temperament and confidence deficiency only complicates matters for them. Inasmuch as we don’t elect how tall or attractive we turn up as adults, that has never stopped people from judging others by their looks and height.  To cut a long justification short to my right of bias today, allow me to get to the point pronto.

Short women. They have persistently avoided public scrutiny. I have never heard a single joke about them, yet I know a million about short men. And short women have the highest unrealistic standards in dating. 

At any given time, men prefer dating shorter women. Personally, any woman above 6’2 freaks me out. I shiver when hugging them. Similarly, a woman under 5’5 worries me a lot. For instance, as a 6’4, I can’t date a short, young woman without looking as a sugar daddy or out of my mind.

For a tall man, dating a short woman attracts unnecessary attention. When you introduce her, you see people secretly frowning at the idea. Those bold enough always point at the incongruity with good humour.

In my world, we are always warned of women who are thin and slender. Evidently, they are loud, abrasive and controlling. But I have noted with consistency that even short women have such nagging and whining problems. Part of the reason is that people scarcely take short women seriously.

Short women are disadvantaged in two ways. One, there is the gender bias given that we live in a highly patriarchal society. And their height makes them look like young girls until they turn 30 or become mothers of at least two children. Then, they can derive a sense of authority from motherhood. I don’t make the rules, so pardon me.

Short women are barred from modelling. This is the ultimate woman-to-woman discrimination that bothers me a lot. Isn’t it possible to have categories based on height? I mean, men are sensible enough in boxing that they have different categories based on weights.

Beneath every woman lies a model who wants out, but societal rules are mean. Not all women can be models. But height discriminating is one insensitive aspect of intra-feminine quibbles.

 Short women also have a challenge in dressing. Those who understand themselves well, often get it right. But in matters fashion, women are invariably on the wrong side. And short women are always going for hideous pants, monstrous skirts, and atrocious high heels. In the end, they come out looking like they are trying too hard. In deed they are.

For men, we accept our inadequacies as we grow older. How we wish more women would learn just that from us. If a man knows he is not handsome or moneyed, he works hard at the gym and harder to get the money so that he can date a woman of his dreams. For women, those short or unattractive would rather invest in a good personality. No man has ever faulted a good character in a woman.

@nyanchwani

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