Why do men (most of the time) seem to be taller than women?

Answer 1

Why are most men taller than women? This age-old height difference persists to this day, according to research to be published in Proceedings B, a Royal Society journal, because taller than average men and shorter than average women were found to be more successful in attracting a mate and having children. Dr Daniel Nettle of the Open University used data from 10,000 men and women born in Britain in one week in March 1958 and his study concluded that the taller the men were, the less likely they were to be unmarried or childless 42 years later in 2000.


Dr Nettle's study showed that there was a positive relationship between male stature and reproductive success: the average man of 1.77m (5'8") is less likely to have children than a taller man of 1.83m (6'1"). This appeared to be due to taller men's greater ability to attract a mate.

For the women, by contrast, those most likely to be married and have children by the same age were between 1.51m (4'9") and 1.58 m (5'1"), well below the average height of 1.62 m (5'3").

"It seems that tall men and petite women are favoured in evolutionary terms, even in a modern population, so the height difference between men and women is unlikely to disappear," Dr Nettle explained.

The results corroborate earlier research findings that taller men are found to be more attractive than those of average height. However, men don't appear to put the same premium on height when choosing a partner. Because men seek out 'fertility cues' in their mates, tallness doesn't seem to matter, Dr Nettle pointed out. This is where shorter women gain an edge over their taller peers.

Dr Nettle explained that shorter women appear to have greater reproductive success partly because there is delayed fertility amongst tall women. Short women generally reach puberty earlier whilst the bodies of tall women spend more energy on growing rather than entering puberty.

Additionally, due to the tendency for women to choose men taller than themselves, tall women have a smaller pool of available potential partners to select from.

Dr Nettle believes that the results of his research have debunked some long-standing notions about what attracts men to women and vice versa: "We have come to think that men pay attention to physical characteristics of their mates, whilst women pay more attention to status and resources. In the case of height, this is clearly not true; in choosing a husband, size matters."

Answer 2

It's genetics and the way hormones are distributed in the different sexes. If you could control hormones from birth, you coud make females grow similar to males, but then all of their advantages for child rearing would be lost, the higher body fat for ensuring nutrition for young children during lean times, breasts, nurturing mentality and emotion, etc. they would basically be a man without a penis and the ovaries and uterous wouldn't develop. Taller and stronger men had a genetic advantage in terms of hunting and gathering food, and also in their ability to kick the crap out of other men to breed with women. So men are taller on overage because the bigger stronger males got more women. You'll see this change in the future, since this is not a genetic advantage for the most part any more.

Answer 3

I guess beacause traditionaly men played the provider/warrior role, bigger stronger males could work harder / longer provide more for thier families making them attractive mates & as they were stronger would more likely not be killed in war / battles & survive to father more children.

Answer 4

taller, stronger, more muscle mass,less body fat,longer limbs.
feeling like they get it all??

dont forget men are hairier,smellier,fart more,get beer guts,get big noses and ears when they are old.go bald and couldnt exist if we werent here to look after them.

we are definately the fairer and the smarter sex

Answer 5

Men were designed to be workers, and provide for the family. While women were designed to give birth, and be mothers.

Answer 6

Genetics. Different sexes. God.