Do Tall Men Get Laid More?

Read enough relationship on the Internet and you’ll often hear a strain of men who complain that women are too focused on height. Their belief is that all women only go for the tallest, hottest, richest guys around – and that no one else even stands a chance.

And let’s face it: it IS harder being a shorter guy. Go to any online dating site, put that you’re 5’5″ and listen for the crickets. But, thankfully, online dating isn’t the only way to meet women, and thankfully, we have studies that can either confirm or deny our hypotheses.

Well, in an Elle/MSNBC Sex/Love Survey of over 60,000 people, the old trope that tall guys get  MUCH more action than the rest of us  has summarily been put to rest.

All things considered – it’s seen as advantageous to be tall, in practical terms, it seems like shorter than average guys end up doing just fine.

Per Susan Walsh at Hooking Up Smart:

The man who is 5’2”³ has a mean number of 8 sexual partners. The 5’4”³ guy has 10. And all the guys between 5’7”² and 6’2”³ have 11-12 partners.

Taken further, Walsh (and Mona Chalabi at 538) concludes that the mean  number of sex partners is consistent except for men under 5’4″.

So while – all things considered – it’s seen as advantageous to be tall, in practical terms, it seems like shorter than average guys end up doing just fine. Which makes sense, given that someone has to father other shorter than average guys in the future.