Before anything, it’s only right to confirm that I am indeed a short guy. I stand at either 5’6 or 5’7 and in England (where I’m from) that’s considered short. I have no problem with this because I like my height and barring extreme circumstances, I don’t feel that anyone of a diminutive stature should either. I don’t feel that I’m better or worse than anyone who is shorter or taller than me as I’m not shallow plus it would make me no better than people that do ridicule others about their height. I don’t have Napoleon complex (named after French dictator Napoleon Bonaparte who was also around 5’6) and frankly, I’m not fond of people that do because they remind me of rabid chihuahuas. Despite my feelings towards them, I do understand why some dudes may feel that way with societies worldwide looking down (both literally and figuratively) on short guys. The media constantly talks about ideals with many declaring that short men don’t measure up to their demands, desires and expectations.
As mentioned before, I have no problem with my height but some views on short guys are stupid to a point that I had to say something. This blog post touches on the issues and stereotypes regarding men that are 5’8 or shorter.
Napoleon complex
Also known as short man syndrome, little man complex... whatever you wanna call it. This is the most popular stereotype. It’s the idea that the only thing shorter than their height is their fuse. Fair enough, there are guys that act excessively aggressive to compensate for their height (it is named after a short guy after all) but it is an unfair generalisation. I personally don’t think I suffer from Napoleon complex. Whenever I’ve gotten angry, it has never been because of my size and I’ve never felt the need to start hyping because of it and I can say the same for other short guys I know.
If I didn’t know better, a label like that could cause laid-back people like myself to NEVER get angry even if the situation warranted me to. All in a bid to avoid the stigmatised ‘Napoleon’ label. Doing that could turn me into a pushover which is definitely something I don’t want. Just because a short guy gets angry doesn’t mean he has Napoleon complex.
Going back to generalisations, saying short men are ‘aggressive’ is like saying all tall men are ‘arrogant’. Some are, some ain’t but not all.
Tall guys make me feel safer
A high number of females have this impression that being with a tall man makes them feel more protected. This implies that the shorter the man, the less likely a man can look after himself and his woman. I’m aware I said I don’t suffer from Napoleon complex but COME ON! Anyone with a d**k would be offended by this. This is arguably the biggest par when it comes to stereotypes on this subject. It’s emasculating. It's insulting. More importantly however, it's the biggest load of s**t I’ve ever heard. I’m not a female so I can’t see how being with a tall man makes them feel protected. As a man though, I will use my common sense and make this point. Ladies, if you were walking down a street and someone attempted to rob you who would you rather have with you?
Manny Pacquiao (5’6) one of the best boxers in the world.
or
Peter Crouch (6’7) a lanky, skinny footballer.
Check out this guy he’s only 4’8, I’d like to see Peter Crouch attempt this.
I REST MY CASE.
Attraction
This issue is a bit more complex but this is my opinion. I understand everyone has their personal preferences and I get that some girls wouldn’t want to date a guy that was way shorter than her. Me personally, at my height I can’t imagine me even moving to let alone going out with a girl that was 5’10, 5’11 unless she was CHOOOOOOOOOOONG. So I get the point with height proximity and whatnot. However I’ve seen tall, average and even short girls talk about giving a guy air simply because of his height which doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t see how a woman that’s under 5’4 can rebuff a guy that’s 5’4-5’8. That would be like Lil’ Wayne or Rick Ross not being attracted to females that are dark skin or fat respectively... Oh wait! Then again, the world is full of contradictions so it is what it is. Luckily, I’m not really affected by it but some guys are.
I don’t really see how height can make someone less attractive as this characteristic doesn’t drastically change a person’s appearance. I’ve seen a lot of girls that I would still find pretty whether they grew or shrunk a bit. Reason is because their face wouldn’t change and her body wouldn’t either apart from her torso or legs. As I previously said though, it's all down to preference.
As far as I know, a lot of the reasons girls give for giving a guy air isn’t necessarily because of their looks but it seems to be a psychological/societal issue. The mental issue I’ve already spoke about. As for society’s hand in this, apparently the archetypal attractive man is one that’s tall,dark and handsome (at least I tick two of those boxes lol) so that might be a factor. There’s also this constant expectation that a man should be taller than his girlfriend otherwise you’re somewhat of an outcast for not conforming to this unwritten custom.
Far as I’m concerned, if you personally have no physical attraction whatsoever to a short/shorter guy fair enough as everyone has their preferences but don't cave into peer pressure.
Outside Influences
As previously mentioned, many people think the man should always be taller than the woman. I have a tall friend who went out with a shorter guy and they broke up because his friends were teasing him for having a taller girlfriend. This just shows how influential other people can be in the choices people make.
When I was studying my GCSE’s, I read a short story called ‘A tall woman and her short husband’. To cut the story short, it was about a Chinese couple who were ridiculed by everyone due to their unconventional relationship but still maintained a Naim Suleymanoglu-strong relationship.
That story was inspiring and showed me that you should do what you wanna do and not what other people want. It’s important to have a mind of your own and speaking of mind, tell people to mind their own f***ing business.
The bigger you are, the bigger your...
If you believe this, you are an idiot. I can definitely confirm that isn’t true ;-).
Tall people are more masculine
When I think about effeminate men the first name that springs to mind is Drake. No man is exempt from having ‘vaginal’ moments but Drake is a repeat offender. Drake isn’t short either he’s 6 foot tall.
Short guys make me look fat
Don’t kid yourself. If you were standing next to Danny DeVito or Yao Ming, you’d look fat anyway. If you don’t like your weight, Fitness First is as bait as Primark and Nando’s. Go gym.
I think I’ve covered most of the issues surrounding short guys. Regardless of who you are, love yourself. If you can’t change something, embrace it. If you can change something, only change for you and nobody else.
What’s your opinion? Have I missed anything out? Do you agree/disagree? Any personal experiences?
Feel free to comment but please keep it civilised.
Peace out!
