Tall men for fun, short men for marriage?

Every once in a while I find one of these odd studies that draw an unexpected conclusion. This one is a doozy. Apparently, researchers are claiming that while women are attracted to tall men when they want to screw around, they actually prefer shorter men with whom they settle down. Poetic, no?

Personally I'm kind of scratching my head over this one.

"If they are very handsome and very desirable there will be lots of other women competing for their attention. For a short-term relationship, you want somebody you are sexually attracted to, they don't have to be the best to get on with.

"But for a long-term relationship, yes, you are having kids together, but you are also raising them and educating them. For that you want someone much more amenable, who has resources and who is kind and caring." Dr Neave, of orthumbria University, said men should not be too quick to blame their height for any lack of success with women. Life is much more complex than the findings suggest, he said.

Now, I myself am of average height, so I don't have a dog in this fight (there's that rhyming again). But Tom Cruise is 5' 7" and he married the very leggy Nicole Kidman. Rod Stewart is pretty short and he got Rachel Hunter. But Cruise is a good looking guy and Stewart is...well...not. But what do these two guys have in common? Show me the money!!!!

Perhaps the research is focusing on the wrong measurement here. Length maybe? Hmmm.

Seriously though, I can imagine that it's every woman's dream to look up at her man when she is kissing him. But I suspect that when the rubber meets the road (no pun intended) there are much more important factors for women than height, which makes them the nobler sex.

Alright, that pun was intended.

UPDATE: 8/17/05 9:00am
What is going on here? Now according to a poll of Playgirl readers (women, that is), the word sexy has been redefined ("You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." - Inigo Montoya).

Women like "regular joes"? Apparently:

"Playgirl asked 2,000 of its readers what they find sexy in a man and the answers were surprising: 42% said they thought love handles were kind of sexy and 47% approved of chest hair...Metrosexuals are also out: 73% want a guy who is "rough around the edges."

Damn, by that standard I'd be judged the "sexiest man alive"! ;-)

Posted by: Gary at 03:05 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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