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[ReadRothbard]

It is no secret that one of the reasons many of us get leg lengthening is to fair better with the opposite sex. Now, I don't exactly do poorly with the ladies, but I know that I would do better if I was taller. I've heard plenty of men and women cite the evolutionary argument--that women are "programmed" to seek taller men, as they supposedly are better protectors. However, height doesn't seem to play more than a minor role in one's combat ability, with most boxing experts saying that smaller guys tend to punch with just as much force as larger dudes, as smaller guys punch with more speed. Plus, it is no secret that being short and strong are not mutually exclusive; lamar Gant, Ed Coen, and Franco Columbu all sported 600+ lbs deadlifts at heights of 5'6 or less (Gant was barely 5'2). If women were concerned with ability to protect, than height would be less important than muscular strength, but most research has shown height to be as of more important.

I've also heard the argument that tall men are preferred because one can generate more force punching down rather than punching up (as tall men can punch down to strike their smaller opponents). But, this argument still seems weak at best, as short men can easily strike the solarplexes, lower abdomen, or even the genitals of a tall opponent by striking downward, which would arguably give short men an advantage in fighting.

So, what do you think? Why do women prefer taller men?

[Ajax2thousand20]

As a general rule, taller men are stronger and have a greater advantage when it comes to fighting but there are exceptions. As for women, they're brained are wired to like taller men because it will aide their survival better in that aspect unless you like Tom Cruise who has millions of dollars which is blatantly better for ones survival but I'm speaking for the general public obviously.

[Uppland]

Body size (height) is in itself not much of an advantage, actually excessive height is unhealthy to some degree. However much like attractive facial symmetry isn't practical it's an indication of effective genetics.
Now before I say anything else it's good to know there is no consensus on this but some of the most likely reasons are: A tall height signals a childhood/adolescence free from diseases that stunt growth and with plenty of nutrition.

It has also been proven that women are attracted to men with a high level of testosterone such as large muscles, low browridges and even pheromones. Testosterone also accelerates growth plate closure so a tall men tend to have statistically less testosterone and that makes handsome tall men very valuable. Finally when you ask women they all say they feel "safe" with tall men. This is because body size signals a powerful protector that can succesfully compete against other smaller men.

But the truth is no one know for sure. Interesting question nonetheless.

[endomorphisme]

tall men are not stronger, but they are more impressive and get more impressive and more powerful, this is what women are looking for.

[GeTs]

-cause taller men are more mysterious, therefore more attractive
-short mens have that visual defect, when u look at him u want to change something which doesn't happen in tall men

[TRS]

I believe that a lot has to do with media! You will see that the main protagonist will be a successful, good looking tall guy while majority of the shorter guys will always be portrayed as having "napoleon complex", weak and unsuccessful in many aspect of his life. Nearly always the case in kids shows to mature shows. This representation over time has been hard wired into people so they believe that taller are always more successful. The reason why women prefer taller men and generally look down and humiliate shorter guys. 

[Uppland]

Socialization certainly plays a part but I'm sure that women (and men) are actually hardwired to instinctively associate height with power/dominance (a very attractive trait in men) and I think there has been some research that confirms that but I'm not certain

[Ajax2thousand20]

tall men are not stronger, but they are more impressive and get more impressive and more powerful, this is what women are looking for.

Yes they are. 2 men of equal skill in every aspect except for height, the taller one will win almost always.

[ReadRothbard]

As a general rule, taller men are stronger and have a greater advantage when it comes to fighting but there are exceptions. As for women, they're brained are wired to like taller men because it will aide their survival better in that aspect unless you like Tom Cruise who has millions of dollars which is blatantly better for ones survival but I'm speaking for the general public obviously.

I would definitely say that is not a general rule, whatsoever. A good portion of your world'a strongest men are average height and under, and like I said, most boxing experts say that body mass, really the only thing that changes with height besides reach, doesn't really affect punching power.

[ReadRothbard]

Body size (height) is in itself not much of an advantage, actually excessive height is unhealthy to some degree. However much like attractive facial symmetry isn't practical it's an indication of effective genetics.
Now before I say anything else it's good to know there is no consensus on this but some of the most likely reasons are: A tall height signals a childhood/adolescence free from diseases that stunt growth and with plenty of nutrition.

It has also been proven that women are attracted to men with a high level of testosterone such as large muscles, low browridges and even pheromones. Testosterone also accelerates growth plate closure so a tall men tend to have statistically less testosterone and that makes handsome tall men very valuable. Finally when you ask women they all say they feel "safe" with tall men. This is because body size signals a powerful protector that can succesfully compete against other smaller men.

But the truth is no one know for sure. Interesting question nonetheless.

But the correlation between height and health on an individual basis is weak at best--it only really works as an indicator of health when discussing the average heights of entire populations (ex. countries). Also, I'm not so sure there is a very large advantage to having a large body size and fighting ability. When looking at boxers, we do see great fighters whom are fairly large, such as Muhammed Ali and George Foreman, but Julio Chavez, Tommy Burns, Barney Ross, Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray, Willie Pep, and Henry Armstrong are all routinely cited as some of the best boxers in history, but were hardly massive at 5'5-5'10.

[ReadRothbard]

Yes they are. 2 men of equal skill in every aspect except for height, the taller one will win almost always.

This is most certainly not true. Just take a look at some of these links:

http://www.expertboxing.com/boxing-strategy/boxing-styles/how-to-beat-a-shorter-boxer

http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/f2/why-shorter-guys-better-fighters-2424033/

http://m.livescience.com/1358-short-legs-human-predecessors-fighters.html

[123]

This is most certainly not true. Just take a look at some of these links:

http://www.expertboxing.com/boxing-strategy/boxing-styles/how-to-beat-a-shorter-boxer

http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/f2/why-shorter-guys-better-fighters-2424033/

http://m.livescience.com/1358-short-legs-human-predecessors-fighters.html

Yeah, the reason why the Klitschkos are dominating boxing is definitely their height. You just need to know how to use it. I'm pretty sure they would win against every boxer who is below 6'. You can do nothing against their reach.

[Wannabegiant]

Yeah, the reason why the Klitschkos are dominating boxing is definitely their height. You just need to know how to use it. I'm pretty sure they would win against every boxer who is below 6'. You can do nothing against their reach.

Boxing isnt really that good of a reference for fighting though, its very limited so it doesnt represent the assumed disparity of fighting ability between short and tall men.

MMA is much better to compare, its much closer to real fighting and in that sport, short guys have just as much success as tall ones do overall, regardless of weight class.

I realize height and reach are definite advantages, but they are most of the time not significant enough to make a significant difference after all the other factors come into play. 

Only a few fighters rely excessively on height and reach for their success, like Jon Jones. But he is lacking in his stand up skills, it can be argued that he simply isnt skilled at stand up, and his reach and height compensate for his average stand up skills. But it can also be argued that his reach and body build makes it more difficult to develop good technique, form, handspeed and knockout power. Jones is lacking in all those areas, the only good standup skill he has is kicks but even his kicks lack power.

[ReadRothbard]

Boxing isnt really that good of a reference for fighting though, its very limited so it doesnt represent the assumed disparity of fighting ability between short and tall men.

MMA is much better to compare, its much closer to real fighting and in that sport, short guys have just as much success as tall ones do overall, regardless of weight class.

I realize height and reach are definite advantages, but they are most of the time not significant enough to make a significant difference after all the other factors come into play. 

Only a few fighters rely excessively on height and reach for their success, like Jon Jones. But he is lacking in his stand up skills, it can be argued that he simply isnt skilled at stand up, and his reach and height compensate for his average stand up skills. But it can also be argued that his reach and body build makes it more difficult to develop good technique, form, handspeed and knockout power. Jones is lacking in all those areas, the only good standup skill he has is kicks but even his kicks lack power.

I agree with this.

[Ajax2thousand20]

This is most certainly not true. Just take a look at some of these links:

http://www.expertboxing.com/boxing-strategy/boxing-styles/how-to-beat-a-shorter-boxer

http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/f2/why-shorter-guys-better-fighters-2424033/

http://m.livescience.com/1358-short-legs-human-predecessors-fighters.html

Grade A bs. Being taller is an advantage with no disadvantage unless you don't know how to use it end of discussion. Here's an example. Would a 5'7" 150lb fighter stand a chance against a 6'5" 240 lb fighter of equal skill? No! If he fked up once then the 6'5" guy would knock him out if not kill him! Believe me, I'm humble of my height and smart enough to know that guys who are bigger than myself are more likely gonna win in a fight due to their size alone. It's best to realize that there's always someone taller and stronger than you out there.

[Gichelu]

Grade A bs. Being taller is an advantage with no disadvantage unless you don't know how to use it end of discussion. Here's an example. Would a 5'7" 150lb fighter stand a chance against a 6'5" 240 lb fighter of equal skill? No! If he f**ked up once then the 6'5" guy would knock him out if not kill him! Believe me, I'm humble of my height and smart enough to know that guys who are bigger than myself are more likely gonna win in a fight due to their size alone. It's best to realize that there's always someone taller and stronger than you out there.

That's a horrible example. The 6'5 guy would have 90 lbs on the guy. Weight matters much more than height which is why there is sorting by weight class and not height. Put a 5'7 guy and a 6'5 guy of equal skill and weight and it's a much different scenario because while the tall guy has the reach the shorter guy would be much stronger at the same weight.

[Uppland]

Boxing isnt really that good of a reference for fighting though, its very limited so it doesnt represent the assumed disparity of fighting ability between short and tall men.

MMA is much better to compare, its much closer to real fighting and in that sport, short guys have just as much success as tall ones do overall, regardless of weight class.

I realize height and reach are definite advantages, but they are most of the time not significant enough to make a significant difference after all the other factors come into play. 

Only a few fighters rely excessively on height and reach for their success, like Jon Jones. But he is lacking in his stand up skills, it can be argued that he simply isnt skilled at stand up, and his reach and height compensate for his average stand up skills. But it can also be argued that his reach and body build makes it more difficult to develop good technique, form, handspeed and knockout power. Jones is lacking in all those areas, the only good standup skill he has is kicks but even his kicks lack power.

This is true. Boxing isn't a good example it's a sport with rules and conditions. There is a reason we feel intimidated by taller men in the natural kingdom size is usually an advantage. Alot of animals use size as an deterrant to stave off hunters, the blowfish for example.

It's reasonably common for the male to be male to be bigger in most species. Think about it does a 45 kg woman stand a chance against a 70 kg man? No -because body size (as long as it's muscles and not just fat) is a sign of strenght. Size isn't only just height a broad short man might very well be more intimidating than a skinny tall man. Bigger in every dimension equals more strenght and more dominance.

[KrP1]

its easy, tall mans are more aestetic than short ones .
Taller mans will always have advantage in a fight or in supervivence.
More height = more weight and longer arms to punch.
If they need to climb a mountain or a tree, its easier for taller man, because short man often cant get points to climb where taller ones can.
Tall mans can walk and run faster
there are lots of reasons.

[Wannabegiant]

5'10 Mark Hunt abusing the much taller Stefan Struve (who is legit 7 feet!!) in the heavyweight division.

He won by KO and both weigh around 265 pounds in the ring, probably more after rehydrating from the weigh in, but Hunt has lots of fat which doesnt help much in a fight, while Struve has mostly lean mass.

http://i1.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1742111.ece/alternates/s615/162988064.jpg

http://statsstylescore.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/hunt-vs.-struve-@ufc.jpg

[Wannabegiant]

This is true. Boxing isn't a good example it's a sport with rules and conditions. There is a reason we feel intimidated by taller men in the natural kingdom size is usually an advantage. Alot of animals use size as an deterrant to stave off hunters, the blowfish for example.

It's reasonably common for the male to be male to be bigger in most species. Think about it does a 45 kg woman stand a chance against a 70 kg man? No -because body size (as long as it's muscles and not just fat) is a sign of strenght. Size isn't only just height a broad short man might very well be more intimidating than a skinny tall man. Bigger in every dimension equals more strenght and more dominance.

Yeah, tall stature and size is not really suggestive of fighting ability, but we are programmed to associate those traits with strenght and dominance. Same reason why they use big bodyguards even though they might suck at fighting.

the average people including women are not smart enough to look deeper and realize that a big man might be a wuss or a weakling compared to a smaller guy most of the time. They will just accept the most simple explanation to what they see, if they see a tall man they automatically think that is dominant even though they know nothing else about the guy. People are simpleminded overall.

[Wannabegiant]

its easy, tall mans are more aestetic than short ones .
Taller mans will always have advantage in a fight or in supervivence.
More height = more weight and longer arms to punch.
If they need to climb a mountain or a tree, its easier for taller man, because short man often cant get points to climb where taller ones can.
Tall mans can walk and run faster
there are lots of reasons.

those things are not really easily observable though, so i doubt such small things are taken into account as to why tall men are preferred. Those small factors would be comparable to the fact that short men live longer lives on average than tall men do.

[123]

Yeah, tall stature and size is not really suggestive of fighting ability, but we are programmed to associate those traits with strenght and dominance. Same reason why they use big bodyguards even though they might suck at fighting.

the average people including women are not smart enough to look deeper and realize that a big man might be a wuss or a weakling compared to a smaller guy most of the time. They will just accept the most simple explanation to what they see, if they see a tall man they automatically think that is dominant even though they know nothing else about the guy. People are simpleminded overall.

Of course there are average guys who can beat taller guys, but that doesn't mean being short gives you an advantage in fights. Being short gives you no real advantage in real fights, being tall gives you an advantage, reach.

Lets assume you have two men who are equal in skills, but they have a 10cm height difference, the taller guy will win.

[KrP1]

you are generalizing, there are some short guys that can win some tall guys in a fight. But in the average , taller mans will beat shorter guys ass.
thats like say that bruce lee could beat a guy of 6´3 . and say that short guys win tall guys in a fight.
bruce lee can, but the most short guys couldnt.

If you take 100 diferent 5´5 guys and 100 diferent 6´1 guys and make them fight.  a lot more tall guys will win than the shorter ones.

Tall guys in average weight more than short guys , have bigger armspawn and is more easy to punch from up to down than down to up. that makes them much more powerfull in a fight

[Wannabegiant]

Of course there are average guys who can beat taller guys, but that doesn't mean being short gives you an advantage in fights. Being short gives you no real advantage in real fights, being tall gives you an advantage, reach.

Lets assume you have two men who are equal in skills, but they have a 10cm height difference, the taller guy will win.

Thats what i said, height and reach are definite advantages in a fight, but in practice you are pretty much never going to have 2 guys who are equal in everything other than height. There are always so many variables at play that height and reach for the most part dont play significant roles, unless you are talking about a 6'4 guy vs a 5'6 guy, but in most of those cases the taller guy is going to be much much heavier as well which is the more significant advantage.

also being shorter have some universal advantages in a fight, lower centre of gravity helps with wrestling, and as mentioned it is easier to attack the groin if we are talking about a real street fight.

Also, you guys are taking extreme examples where the weight difference would be very big as well. So it doesnt really serve the argument. We know that being bigger overall is an advantage in most cases. height is part of size but we are trying to discuss height alone. Im aware that most taller guys are heavier as well but not always.

[Moubgf]

You make it seem all shorter guys are scrawny. I weigh just as much as my taller counter parts ofcourse not the overweight or the guy who almost reached his muscle genetic climax.

We talking average here.  I could easily get these guys on the ground then what? then what?. What he gonna do then without his unproportionally tall legs.

The only advantage point taller guys have is in tight spaces. Generally in apartments,Elevators,cars stuff like that. On the street i bet my money on the short guy tbh. If he is not scrawny and is just alpha but had short genetics. yup my bet is on him.


6'2 and over the taller guy will win simply because lets be reality.

[Moubgf]

dd post

[Ajax2thousand20]

The fight examples you guys give are exceptions to the rule. Your making it sound like what I'm saying is a constant. I didn't say the smaller/shorter guy doesn't stand a chance. They're will always be exceptions but generally speaking unless one guy is more skilled, height and weight will dominate the fight.

[Moubgf]

The fight examples you guys give are exceptions to the rule. Your making it sound like what I'm saying is a constant. I didn't say the smaller/shorter guy doesn't stand a chance. They're will always be exceptions but generally speaking unless one guy is more skilled, height and weight will dominate the fight.

no it wont. ever see a short guy throw fists? that speed and that unintentional headbut.

[KrP1]

6'2 and over the taller guy will win simply because lets be reality.

ok, so if you say that 6´2 will win, is because being tall is really an advantage. you are admitting.

[Ajax2thousand20]

no it wont. ever see a short guy throw fists? that speed and that unintentional headbut.

Quit trying to make yourself feel secure. Throw him in the ring with a MMA fighter 6'+ of same weight category he'd be finished. I got in a fight with 2 guys at once, one was short and the other tall and believe me when I say the tall guys blows were much more devastating than the short guys and I hurt the shorter guy much more than the taller. Size matters period get it through your thick skull. Hollywood actors will always hire bodyguards 6'5"+. Snoop Dogg is 6'4" and his body guards are 6'8" and taller. Short men will never be hired to be a body guard regardless of skill in. fights.

[Wannabegiant]

The fight examples you guys give are exceptions to the rule. Your making it sound like what I'm saying is a constant. I didn't say the smaller/shorter guy doesn't stand a chance. They're will always be exceptions but generally speaking unless one guy is more skilled, height and weight will dominate the fight.

What you forget is that in pretty much all cases, there will be a skill disparity, and also a speed disparity. Majority of shorter guys are faster than the taller guys. Most people are not that skilled in fighting so even small differences in skill can make a huge difference. And as we see on the highest level in the UFC, the shorter/smaller guys are more technical on average, this probably translates to average people as well although less of a difference. Tall people are generally more clumsy than shorter dudes.

So only if the height disparity is very big will it have a lot of significance, but even then the weight difference in thoses cases are even more significant as mentioned.