I don’t know how true this is, but I’ve read that it is statistically very unlikely for women to marry men shorter than they are. Apparently researchers have looked at this question from a data point of view using public records.

But that basic fact (if it’s actually true) doesn’t say everything. Who’s doing the sorting? Is it women preferring taller men, is it men preferring shorter women, is it some combination of both, and is this a sociological rather than a biological phenomenon? (What I mean is, are we somehow unconsciously wired for height preferences?)

My family are very short people. Most of my women cousins are 5’2" or shorter. So are my mother and sister, and so were both of my grandmothers.

I can’t think of a single woman in my extended family who married a man shorter than she is, although in our case that would be pretty difficult.

I am 5' 5" tall, at the low end of the bell curve for men, and while most of the men in my extended family are taller than me, few of them are as tall as you.

I mean, I realize my family is just one isolated example, but have we self-selected for shorter heights, and will this carry on or will it change as times and social mores change?

As a gay man, this rarely concerns me. I have never felt either particularly desired or particularly rejected because of my height. Sure, some gay men like big tall muscular guys, but height seems to be less a “thing” with us than other sorts of looks. I have no idea what that might mean or not mean in terms of the general question.