Women Are Defending Their Height Difference Relationships

Women on social media are sharing and defending their height difference relationships in which their boyfriends are shorter than them.

Earlier this year, Spider Man: No Way Home stars Tom Holland and Zendaya confirmed they were in a relationship and one of the first things lots fans of the pair did was complain about their height difference.

Euphoria actress Zendaya is roughly two inches taller than her Spider Man co-star, she is 5 ft 10 inches, while Tom is 5 ft 8.

The difference may only be an insignificant two inches paper, but to dozens of people on social media, the height difference of two inches is almost too much to handle.

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Now, the pair have addressed the criticisms, with Tom calling it a “stupid assumption” that men should be taller than their girlfriends in an interview alongside Zendaya with SiriusXM. “She’s not that much taller than me, let’s just put this out there," he said.

Zendaya added that her mum is taller than her dad. “This is normal too,” Zendaya chipped in. “My mum is taller than my dad. I honestly never thought of it as a thing because my parents were always that way, so I didn’t know that people cared. I had no construct of it.”

Women on Twitter started to defend their own relationships in which they were taller than their partners. One Twitter user said: "I know there are women out there who won’t date a guy shorter than them, but it has literally never been an issue for me. The one guy i dated was 5’1”, i’m 5’6”. the only issue we had, as with this couple, was people being sh*tty about it all the time!!"

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Another woman shared: "I've had shorter boyfriends and I think it shows that he's not insecure about his short stature."

While a third reacted to Zendaya and Tom's interview, writing: "Too many women put height limits on the men they date & for that, they could really be missing out on something special."

One person replied to this tweet with: "As a tall person, I can't imagine cutting out 3/4 of available men. My daughter is married to a guy shorter than her. As is my sister. I've dated both. No difference."

Meanwhile, another Twitter user shared a picture of herself with her partner and said: "I’m 5’10. Height difference never really bothered me. I’ve dated plenty of men shorter than me. I dated this guy for four years and he loved it when I wore heels."

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Other women shared that they "love" having shorter boyfriends. "My boyfriend is shorter than me and I Iove it. My ex was like a foot taller and I actually prefer my man to be my height or shorter tbh."

Clarissa Bloom, dating and relationship expert at The Stag Company, tells Tyla she hears women ask for taller boyfriends “incredibly commonly” but says the way you feel about your own body, such as your height if you’re a taller women, shouldn’t be reflected on your partner’s body. 

“Many times when a woman is on the taller side, they will look to date someone taller, so that it makes them feel more feminine. But their body, height or shape shouldn't impact on how you feel about your [own]. 

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“If this is the case, I would instead focus on why you feel this way and how you can change your thinking to a more body positive approach.

Clarissa suggests one way of being more open to dating men of different heights is to ensure you don’t have strict dating preferences on dating apps. 

“With dating platforms, you're often required to input your height, being one of the first metrics they see. You can even filter based on their height.

"Can you imagine if this existed for someone's weight on the scales or something of that nature. It's bizarre that it has been accepted as a trait that we should be filtering by or ruling people out by.”

“So many people do and are inadvertently ruling out thousands of incredible people because of one inch in height, it's ludicrous.”

Clarissa, who is 5 ft 10, has dated men who are shorter than her in the past but makes sure to never ask the man what his exact height is because this may make them feel insecure. 

“I do believe many people unfairly judge men on height. This is a sensitive subject for men, while it's also something they cannot change or control. 

“To judge them on height is no different than to be judged about some areas we're highly self-conscious about, so I always think how I would feel in reverse.

“I never found it weird at all, dating a shorter man, I couldn't care less."

Topics: Life, Sex and Relationships

Gregory Robinson

Gregory is a journalist working for Tyla. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, he has worked for both print and online publications and is particularly interested in TV, (pop) music and lifestyle. He loves Madonna, teen dramas from the '90s and prefers tea over coffee.