It's rare that I'm inspired to write up a blog entry directly because of someone else's blog. But this time, I just felt it was too good of an opportunity: responding in the source blog wouldn't have given me enough room, and might have veered the discussion off the original subject.

Most of you who read my stuff also read BrooklooineGhost. Her
latest left me thinking. It's becoming less taboo for a woman to date/marry/boff a younger guy. Certainly no problem with me--lots of older babes get my engine revving.

But I've learned that there's one taboo that most (if not all) hetero women still observe: shorter guys.

Seriously ladies, would any of you date a guy who was a noticeably shorter height than you are?

(Sorry to disappoint anybody who expected a different kind of discussion of size *coughBootyliciousQueencough*)

Think about that brief scene in A New Hope: Leia makes a dig at a "short" stormtrooper. Granted, Luke ultimately proves to be taller than she is (need proof? Just watch the final scene in ESB). But I've asked different women at different times if they'd date a man who's shorter than they are. The answer was universal: no. The funny thing is, they couldn't quite explain why they felt that way. They just weren't into the idea of a shorter guy.

I don't have the HBO network, but I did see an old episode of "Sex and the City" where the nympho woman goes on a blind date, only to discover her date is shorter than she is, which causes her to erupt in anger, panic & frustration. Her date finally wins her over, through his self-deprecating charm. The point of this story was that her date was a rich, successful, confident guy--all the things that nympho lady desired. He was just physically short, and therefore Nympho had completely disqualified him.

I have a personal theory on this, which may not make everybody happy: I think this goes back to primal, evolutionary, biological issues between guys & gals. Traditionally, men have always been obligated to protect women: physically, financially, and emotionally when they could (I admit we're not always great at that last part). Since most men are taller than most women, this sense of physical security was probably reinforced by the fact that the male was taller. See? Sometimes size does matter! And I think this same sense of security is why there never seemed to be much scandal at the idea of an older man getting together with a younger woman. Being older often meant he was stable, secure both physically & financially, and responsible. What straight woman wouldn't want that?? Yes, yes, the babes also like the scoundrels of the galaxy too, but would they want to go out with a short scoundrel??? Consider this: say Luke & Leia were not siblings. Who would she be more likely to be physically attracted to? Luke, who's not much taller than she is, or Han, who's about 6 feet, 6'1" in Earthly measurements and towers over Leia? Think about it. One of the first jokes I heard about the Cruise-Kidman divorce was that she herself said she could now wear high heels again. Makes you think.

So, I'm asking a serious question (me, serious???). Are women still picky with respect to a guy's height?