Short Guys Cannot Catch a Break in Love

Men who are shorter than 5’9 are in for a rough go of it if they’re looking to date online. A recent study conducted by New York dating site Are You Interested? found that only 1.2% of the female site users living in Manhattan or the Bronx would reach out to male members who were shorter than them. Odds were slightly better (though still paltry) in the other boroughs with 2.4% of Brooklyn women, 4.1% of Staten Island women and 5.4% of Queens women sending messages to smaller gentlemen.

Of course, the opinions of New York women do not represent the opinions of ALL women on Earth, but it’s a pretty widespread belief — in Western culture anyway — that men = tall and women = small, so it’s not hard to believe that this could be a problem for short men (and tall women) around the country.

“It’s just a fact of life that most women taller than me aren’t willing to date me,” Brooklynite Nick Rizzo, who is 5’7, told the New York Post. “Maybe they’re worried about how it will look to other people.”

First of all, it’s a bummer if that’s the case. Height bias is a real thing, but at the same time, 5’7 is not that short. In fact, 5’7 is probably the average height of most leading men in Hollywood, so — SPECULATION — maybe Nick Rizzo’s personality is the problem? Or maybe not. (I’m sorry, Nick, and I’m sure you, like most people quoted in the New York Post, are very cool.)

Whatever we think of 5’7 Nick Rizzo, we can all agree that we could probably stand to be a little more openminded about the people who we pursue. To think, you could miss out on dating Prince or Peeta all because you shun petite men.