<p>I think every guy would have self esteem issues if he were 5'2". I'm 5'4" and I pretty much hate my life every other day. I grew three inches in high school and all my friends are 5'9" - 6'3" football players with hot girlfriends.</p>
<p>Hope I don't rain on anyone's parade, but Napoleon was actually about 6' feet tall. Historical records of his height list his height in meters, but at the time those refered to <em>French meters,</em> which are actually larger than current meters and converted make Napoleon stand six feet tall.</p>
<p>the evolutoinary argument is crap as well. you can just as easily say short smaller men were able to better hide in the bushes and caves from predators, and thus were the most likely to survive. this is why all women inherently love short men. i know this a tangent, but i just get really annoyed when people do this. you would think that all the nerds here on cc would udnerstand the principles of a basic statistics course..</p>
<p>It's really not that hard to understand, guys, and we don't need to bring evolution or survival skills into it. </p>
<p>The fact is, in America, women are 5'4 on average and men are 5'9 or something. In other societies, people are slightly taller or shorter, but in basically every society, men are taller than women on average. </p>
<p>Naturally, being small becomes associated with women, being tall/larger with men. So we see shorter men as less "masculine" in a sense. For slightly short men, in the 5'6-5'8 range, this is not really a problem because they're still taller than most women, so who cares? But the OP is shorter than the average woman, so he has more of a problem. However, he needs to get comfortable with his body because there's nothing he can do.</p>
<p>Ompalata - I don't feel upset about my A's...do I wish they were B's? sure, but it's not a huge deal. I guess that's what they have push-up bra's for :D</p>
<p>Goodness, this entire thread is amazing. I especially love the topic of whether or not makeup/heels/other physical enhancements are deceptive. I'm a girl, and I can admit that they are. I don't think that anyone said that these deceptions are wrong. Yawn was merely stating that these enhancements cover up/ hide/alter the truth. </p>
<p>Another thing is that, not to be rude, but some people on this thread obviously don't understand what the word functional means from a biological standpoint. All of the enhancements mentioned aren't functional because they aren't required for survival. I can guarantee you that if all the makeup disappeared in the world today that we would all continue to live. We would all probably be ugly, but we would live.</p>
<p>^ I don't think a single person said anything about makeup being necessary to live, where did you get that from? makeup is used to enhance appearance, nothing more. </p>
<p>sure, all these enhancements alter the truth, but so what? we're not chimps living in the jungle, we're people and we like to alter our appearance/scent to improve our looks (heck, even chimps groom themselves). you guys are acting like by wearing some lip gloss and putting on a pair of wedges, women are committing some sort of evil sin. if you want to be 100% natural, then don't groom yourself, let your hair grow down to your toes and stop shaving and wearing deoderant, see if that's a big hit (not talking to anyone in particular lol, just saying). yes, people alter their appearance. we wear perfume/deoderant/cologne so we smell appealing. we cut out hair, style it, some of us color it. most men and women shave some unwanted hair off their bodies. we dress in clothes/shoes we find attractive, all so we can feel good and be more attractive. if you think all of this is a huge turn-off, by all means avoid it, but i don't see anything wrong with it.</p>
<p>Molly4190, I think you don't understand what I am trying to say. I was trying to explain what Yawn was describing by calling cosmetic physical enhancements non-functional. He is right in saying so. They don't serve a dire survival function. We need food/water/sleep/etc, but we don't need makeup/heels/hairless legs/etc live.</p>
<p>I agree with you when you say that we as people alter our appearances. I'm just saying that it's a form of false advertisement/deception. This fact cannot be ignored. Anything that parades around as something that it isn't is being deceptive, but not morally wrong. I think you think that I am saying it's wrong. It's not. Deceptive doesn't always have a bad connotation to it.</p>
<p>Right, but some other people on this thread have said they're turned off by women who use deception...but really, doesn't everyone? I don't know why some people are turned off by women who wear makeup and such. and i don't know why others are turned off by something as silly as footwear (high heels) - it's not like the girl is tricking you into thinking she's tall, you can look down and see her shoes, or hear her clomping a mile away lol. i guess everyone has their preferences, so it's all fair, but it must be hard being that picky.</p>
<p>
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Hope I don't rain on anyone's parade, but Napoleon was actually about 6' feet tall. Historical records of his height list his height in meters, but at the time those refered to <em>French meters,</em> which are actually larger than current meters and converted make Napoleon stand six feet tall.
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<p>Your wrong.</p>
<p>"Confusion about his height also results from the difference between the French pouce and British inch2.71 and 2.54 cm respectively; he was 1.7 metres (5 ft 7 in) tall, average height for the period."</p>
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Right, but some other people on this thread have said they're turned off by women who use deception...but really, doesn't everyone? I don't know why some people are turned off by women who wear makeup and such. and i don't know why others are turned off by something as silly as footwear (high heels) - it's not like the girl is tricking you into thinking she's tall, you can look down and see her shoes, or hear her clomping a mile away lol. i guess everyone has their preferences, so it's all fair, but it must be hard being that picky.
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<p>Men are fine with make-up on woman, it's too much make-up that's the problem. </p>
<p>That is all.</p>
<p>OK people, I get why in the caveman ages, or in the ages of sword/horse/bow fighting, taller guys would be as glorified. But today, we live in a civilized world where non-projectile warfare (e.g missiles bullets and bombs) is how "warriors" fight, so being a 6'6'' private isn't much of an advantage when your possibly 5'2'' enemy is at the helm of a tank, a machine gun, or an anti-aircraft battery. Also, war isn't glorified today except in movies anyway. So why is height so important to the image of being "masculine" today? Why is it soooo important to girls that many shun guys my height or even up to 4 inches taller with respect to dating, given that height isn't chosen or willfully ignored as weight is many times? Why do girls think they are "cooler" if their man is tall, and fear for their image if he is short? I want an answer to that, with respect to how the caveman/swordsman days are gone.</p>
<p>"Makeup and heels serve a functional purpose - heels to make you look taller, chic, dressier, and makeup to enhance looks. Both look silly when taken to extreme levels (women who clomp around in 6 inch heels all the time, women who cake their faces). and be grateful for the fat-sucker-inner-thingies, because lord knows we don't need to see any more muffin tops or beer bellies protruding out!</p>
<p>it's unreasonable for you to expect women to not wear makeup, and i bet most of your girlfriend's did as well. I have acne scars around my jawline area and a little on my cheek, and yeah, I cover them up, because scarring looks bad. sure, it's "deceptive" because it makes it look like my skin isn't scarred, but people usually think i'm wearing no makeup, and I feel more confident/pretty when I don't have scarred skin. hey, if you prefer your women flat-chested and hairy, good for you, bud. But most women tweeze our eyebrows a little, shave our legs, use some makeup, wear heels occasionally, etc, and most guys seem to appreciate this</p>
<p>and btw, it's not just done to please guys - I shave my legs when I don't have a bf, or throughout winter when I wear long pants, because I prefer smooth legs. I wear makeup because I like to have clear skin and feel ugly with scars. I wear contacts instead of glasses because...glasses look ugly"</p>
<p>haha this is interesting because I never wear make-up (and am not exactly considered ugly), I don't shave my legs (although I do admit, very little hair grows there so they look unshaven anyway), I hate heels (they're uncomfortable and so not worth it lol), I don't tweeze (again, it's really just because there isn't that much hair there). I do wear contacts though, but that's because my prescription is almost too much for glasses without me looking like a complete freak.</p>
<p>^^^ lol so true.</p>
<p>hah i'm practically blind, and I hated my thick glasses! even though I'm defending all these practices, the truth is i don't even participate in them much lol...the only makeup i wear daily is concealer to even out my skin. i'm not hairy but I have pale skin and jet black hair, so not shaving isn't an option :D heels are nice for certain occasions, but i generally wear flats. but i don't know why anyone would be opposed to women doing this...I agree with whoever said too much makeup is where it goes wrong. of course, we can squabble about how much is too much.</p>
<p>girls: if you put a paper towel to your face and half your painted face comes off, it's too much makeup! lol :)</p>
<p>lakrosse - you keep asking the same thing and you've gotten a billion answers. forget about cavemen and knights and chivalry. the fact is, men, on average, are taller than women so we expect men to be taller than us. plus in popular culture, men are always shown as taller than the women they date...sure there are exceptions like tom cruise and whats-her-face, but they're around the same size. and it's not just men who have this problem - you're the equivalent of a 4'8.5 chick, and i bet a girl that size would also be limited to shorter guys. you need to chill out and get over it and stop using it as an excuse for everything.</p>
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heels are nice for certain occasions, but i generally wear flats. but i don't know why anyone would be opposed to women doing this
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I don't get it either, haha. Well, I'm totally not opposed to it.</p>
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haha this is interesting because I never wear make-up (and am not exactly considered ugly), I don't shave my legs (although I do admit, very little hair grows there so they look unshaven anyway), I hate heels (they're uncomfortable and so not worth it lol), I don't tweeze (again, it's really just because there isn't that much hair there).
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<p>And your not a lesbian?</p>
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"Confusion about his height also results from the difference between the French pouce and British inch—2.71 and 2.54 cm respectively; he was 1.7 metres (5 ft 7 in) tall, average height for the period."
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<p>Napoleon was about average height for European men during that time, but he was below average height for those in the nobility (the upper class were taller by about 2 inches due to better nutrition).</p>
<p>I thought I'd make another comment. I'm not sure it'll be appreciated, but maybe it will be.</p>
<p>As we all know, there's really not much people can do about their height. Body weight can be altered at least some, hair can be dyed, people with enough money can even have plastic surgery or liposuction. But concerning height, there isn't much that can be done. There is no safe surgery known that can increase or decrease height. It's just one of those things in life that we have to do the best to accept.</p>
<p>As a Christian, I also tend to think of God having a purpose for things that might be difficult for us. A key might be trying to figure out what His purpose might be in something. For example, in my case, I'm a tall female, and given my genetic background, it was really unlikely I'd be so tall. Neither of my parents was really tall, though they weren't short either. My half-sister (who has the same mother as I but a different father - and HER father is taller than my father) turned out to be average height for a female. Being tall was not at all easy for me, especially when I was younger. But assuming a mistake wasn't made with my height, I figured God must have had a purpose of some sort with it. And I have been able to find at least two good things that have come out of what I term my "excess height", two advantages I probably would not have had if I had not been so tall. </p>
<p>If you're not opposed to the idea, perhaps you could really pray about Your situation and try to discover God's will and purpose in your height, what He might want you to do with it. But even if you're not a Christian, you might still be able to find some way to use your shortness or tallness or whatever to some advantage. Someone had suggested to me before to view it as a gift instead of a curse (even if it didn't really feel like a gift).</p>
<p>
[quote]
As we all know, there's really not much people can do about their height. Body weight can be altered at least some, hair can be dyed, people with enough money can even have plastic surgery or liposuction. But concerning height, there isn't much that can be done. There is no safe surgery known that can increase or decrease height. It's just one of those things in life that we have to do the best to accept.
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</p>
<p>Actually, the medical community has been using HGH to increase height in kids w/ gland problems and in China - there is a surgical procedure where they constantly break and set leg bones (supposedly a very painful procedure).</p>
<p>^ HGH is only allowed for people with medical problems who can't produce human growth hormone on their own. If these kids weren't given HGH at an early age, they would grow up to be dwarfs, because their bodies aren't producing it. But obviously we're talking about normal people here without such a condition...also, I'm no pre-med student, but don't elderly people take HGH to help fight aging or something? (of course it doesn't make you taller after your growth plates close up in your late teens).</p>
<p>To answer OP</p>
<p>Simplified answer...b/c when we were cavemen, being tall, strong, brave were good male qualities (protectors of the family). Tall men were swifter as hunters, strong men had better endurance to provide and brave men were... well brave.</p>
<p>That's why women today still tend to go for tall, strong, brave men. Some also tend to go for a-hole types because its in women's nature to go for the testosterone-filled male. Simply...think taller, stronger, more courageous = better protector, hunter.</p>