Matchmaker Tiffany Smith Hamm exhorts women to “get over” a man’s height. She encourages women not to insist that a prospective romantic partner be over six feet tall.
As a man of modest height (5’10”), I suppose that I should appreciate the positive press for those of us under six feet tall (most of the male population, as it turns out).
But what is good for the goose is good for the gander. We often see people telling men that they should not like what they actually do like. Most of us cannot be scolded into changing our preferences. Reverse psychology kicks in, and we dig in our heels.
I view the obsession some women have with height as another example of a fetish. But there are plenty of men who have similar fetishes: 40+ men who will only look at women in their 20s… white men with an Asian fetish, etc.
The height fetish is no more—and no less—neurotic than many of the fetishes men have.
And speaking of men: I know a 6’3” man who will only date women under 5’5”. He routinely skips tall women. Now isn’t that a little bit nuts?
None of us is completely rational when it comes to our preferences. And each of us is free to say “no thank you” until we find a partner who meets our preferences.
You are free to restrict your options to left-handed redheads born under the sign of Pisces if you would like. You just have to realize that the more you restrict your options, well, the more you restrict your options.
-ET