Why is it on the covers of romance novels and in the movies that the men are taller than the women?  Why can't the women be taller than the men?

erm

check average heights......

In the cinema they put some step behind the man's feet. The novels don't need it, because it's fiction.

Also, the difference in height respect to the woman tries to simbolize some sexist domination or inferiority.That's the reason. Really sucks.

Because we always go back to boring statistics.  As a tall (5'10") woman, I wish we weren't all portrayed as Amazons.

i ask my soon to be ex and she said its because women prefer men that are taller than them.  i can't see where this is true though my aunt was taller than my uncle.

some boring statistics -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height#Average_height_around_the_world

its because men are superior to women in every way, even height... that and its every womans dream to be sweaped up by a towering man.....

cough

That was a joke, its probably because it looks good and is a bit of a cliche sterotype..... you know, the tall good looking guy holding a damsel in his arms... im gonna go with the cliche sterotype, if you look at most promos the guy is always taller....

If you dont agree with this in promos start an online petition that no one will read ;)

that's so women can wear those f--- me pumps.

Evens it out ... who's the power player then?

Men ask to become their girlfriend.
Men ask for an engagement.
Men ask you to marry them.

So tell me:

Who makes the decisions???

Quote - its because men are superior to women in every way, even height... that and its every womans dream to be sweaped up by a towering man.....

cough

That was a joke, its probably because it looks good and is a bit of a cliche sterotype..... you know, the tall good looking guy holding a damsel in his arms... im gonna go with the cliche sterotype, if you look at most promos the guy is always taller....

If you dont agree with this in promos start an online petition that no one will read ;)

Time to start some new cliche stereotypes, then. I suppose we'd have to appeal to Hollywood, where cliches are the order of the day. "Hollywood" and "imaginative" are mutually exclusive concepts.

when i see a woman taller than me this is the first image that crosses my mind.  Libby

Claire is a shade taller than me.  I'm a shortass at around 5' 7", but Claire is somewhat above average at 5' 7" 1/2.

An ex of mine was 5' 11" and with her big boots on she stood at 6' 6".  My face was bang in line with her generously proportioned chest.  I didn't mind one bit.  :)  Nor did she, for that matter. :D

I dunno about romance novels (nobody reads 'em?), but in the movies they tried to make men look taller (alan ladd, bogie, mel gibson, claude rains) because as actors they felt inadequate - their audience was crude and made jokes about shorties.  nowadays it's different, of course.  the audiences are much more refined, sophisticated, and they're too busy texting and throwing popcorn to even notice how short these guys are.

Mm.. I seriously think most women would prefer the man to be tallest. I know I wouldn't want a man who is shorter than me. He doesn't need to be towering over me (although hubby sorta does with his 6'4 against my puny 5'2...)

Short guys (as in less than 5'2 just doesn't rock my boat)

Quote - Mm.. I seriously think most women would prefer the man to be tallest. I know I wouldn't want a man who is shorter than me. He doesn't need to be towering over me (although hubby sorta does with his 6'4 against my puny 5'2...)

Short guys (as in less than 5'2 just doesn't rock my boat)

So I'm still in with a chance if things don't work out with our respective spouses? ;)

If they height thing can be traced back to statistical averages, then why don't the characters on the covers look like real, average people?  They don't, from what I've seen.  They look like... romance novel characters.  It's a real downer for us average to below average looking people.  :unsure:

But I do have the 6' 4" thing going for me.  Although I slouch something awful.

while not an iron-clad rule, the first on the wishlist seems to be 'tall', then dark and handsome...;)

Women, in general, want them tall. Such to the point that sperm banks have height requirements (kid you not).

Since 1900, in only 3 US Presidential elections has the shorter candidate won the popular vote; McKinley in 1900, Nixon in 1972 and GW Bush in 2004.....

I don't think Hollywood is meaning to be rude by going with "boring" stastistics, it's always been that average men were taller then average women, it's life, it's... just... simply... life.  If you want to change that, study science, change DNAs or something, do something dramatic that changes the way the world was created... (or boomed, or spoken, or just came into existance, however way you wanna say).

That being said, I've heard numerous times that in history, the man was to care for the woman, to protect her, to "tower" over her to make her feel protected, and to provide for her.  I've heard women (with my own two ears) say they want to feel protected, and yes, that they want a tall man.

There's nothing wrong that women these days want to rule the family and beat their husbands to the pulp if he doesn't straighten out, and to go to work and provide for her own self because they hate the "boring stastistics" (you know I'm kidding... lol).  Seriously, there's nothing wrong for women to feel equal in their relationships instead of being ruled over.  We're getting more and more of that as time changes, and the little men (below average) are becoming more attractive to women (apparently, that's what you women are saying, right?).

But get real, Hollywood is only following average stuff.  But, I do see there are shows where women are taller then men, so yes, things change as people change, just be patience.  Hollywood would be dumb if they didn't change along with everyone, 'cause they're serving "entertainment" for them, and if the people stop watching their movies, well, it's time for Hollywood to change.

...wolfie

Or ... perhaps women subconsciously select for preferred genetic material in their mates by using size as a visually measurable proxy for desirable reproductive traits.  Thus publishers simply mimic and reinforce a hard wired preference attributable to the species.

Just a theory.

Then again, maybe someone did a study and 4 out of 5 readers of such books picked the cover with the noted dimensional contrast.

FWIW, quintessential romance cover boy Fabio is 6'3"

Wow, I always thought William Shatner was the quintessential romance cover boy.

An ex of mine was 5' 11" and with her big boots on she stood at 6' 6".  My face was bang in line with her generously proportioned chest.  I didn't mind one bit.  :)  Nor did she, for that matter. :D

i'm a leg man myself.

Quote - An ex of mine was 5' 11" and with her big boots on she stood at 6' 6".  My face was bang in line with her generously proportioned chest.  I didn't mind one bit.  :)  Nor did she, for that matter. :D

i'm a leg man myself.

She had wonderful long legs, too.  :)

that would 'stand' to figure...;)

She had wonderful long legs, too.  :)

that would 'stand' to figure...;)

Long legs (sigh)  ...you know,  i forgot what i was going to say...

I don't think I prefer one part over another.  Everything is just... glorious.

@ pakled - yep, since legs make up around half a person's total height.  And in taller people, the extra length is generally in the long bones, since there's a limit in how big a body cavity can be before things start to go wrong.

In short people, the size difference is usually in the long bones, too.  Except in dwarfism, which seems to affect almost all the skeleton.

I don't think I prefer one part over another.  Everything is just... glorious.

Well said...

i remember... what i was going to say,  my 10 year old son Bryan beat me in chess.  i'm so proud of him.  he was black,  i was white,  i lead with a pawn then queen and bishop.  he came out with his knights and bishops.  when the smoke cleared,  i was left with my king,  rook,  and 5 pawns.  he finally check mated me with his queen,  bishop and knight...

Being a tall girl myself, almost 5'9 I prefer taller men myself, it just feels off kilter if its the other way around.  I guess we want somebody we can snuggle up against?

@ Patorak - I bet you're very proud of the guy.  I would be.

@ Lzy724 - everyone's the same height when they lay down. ;)

What?  300 million years of evolution?  Maybe in another 300 million, with the growing population of Earth, people will start shrinking.  Each of us will take up less space that way.

I was thinking the way we're going, with everyone texting on their little cell phones or whatever - EVEN WHILE THEY'RE WALKING THROUGH A CROWDED AIRPORT - human arms will shrink until we all have little Tyrannosaurus Rex arms.  I see a lot kids and busniess people doing the chipmunk thing at airports.

-P

@ Patorak - I bet you're very proud of the guy.  I would be.

@ SamTherapy-Yep!  i think he's going to do great at his next tournament.  All in all,  the boys are taking things rather well.  My soon to be ex explained to them why she wants a divorce and that our family is actually expanding because of it. 

@ Rance01- i hope Mother nature throws in a couple more arms while she's at it.

Now,  why is it i can't find a decent UK phonebook on line?  Seems like everytime i search and click on a link it send me to mylife.com

Our privacy laws, mate.  Since BT got hauled over the coals for selling customer data to phone spam companies, things have tightened up.  Most people go ex directory now, anyhow.

Our privacy laws, mate.  Since BT got hauled over the coals for selling customer data to phone spam companies, things have tightened up.  Most people go ex directory now, anyhow.

no problem,  there's always a flare or carrier pidgeon to fall back on.  i just hope the ginger marshmallows hold 'til i get there...