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Why do so many men exaggerate their height?

I'm currently 19 and attending uni. I am about average height at 5'6 (168cm) and virtually every guy that has ever told me his height has added an inch or two. The problem for me is that when I find out their actual height, I feel lied to and almost violated. The worst is when guys wear shoe height inserts since it is essentially "false advertising" and it totally turns me off when we are about to get naughty and he takes his shoes off and I find out the 5'10 hunk is more like a 5'7 little brother. Honestly, this whole thing screams insecurity.

Why are so many guys willing to start a relationship on a lie?

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I'm a short girl myself so I know the struggles of being short. Why should you judge a guy for being short (especially when he's still taller than you)? Most wear shoe insoles to feel more confident about their height, they are making an effort on how they look for people like you.

Do men complain about women wearing heels? Stop being so shallow.
I'm sure if you thought he was a hunk at 5' 10 he'd still be a hunk at 5' 7. If not then I guess you've found a start as to why a lot of men lie about height.

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Reply 3
Original post by Anonymous
I'm currently 19 and attending uni. I am about average height at 5'6 (168cm) and virtually every guy that has ever told me his height has added an inch or two. The problem for me is that when I find out their actual height, I feel lied to and almost violated. The worst is when guys wear shoe height inserts since it is essentially "false advertising" and it totally turns me off when we are about to get naughty and he takes his shoes off and I find out the 5'10 hunk is more like a 5'7 little brother. Honestly, this whole thing screams insecurity.

Why are so many guys willing to start a relationship on a lie?


I'm a guy and I hate it when people do that. When they lie, I state my actual height and make them seem like fools as it becomes obvious that they aren't as tall as they say they are when my height is used as a reference point.

It's sort of understandable though, as for whatever reason women openly admit to being attracted to taller fellows. You might think it's purely physical and that stating a height different to what you are won't make a difference in the eyes of a woman, but unfortunately gals seem to be swayed by numerical labels, probably as we use them as a comparative measure.

I agree about insecurity so I don't do it myself, but the point about false advertising can be applied to any physical manipulation e.g. make up. When you think of it like that, given that I like seeing women with a bit of make up, I think if a taller guy really does look more appealing and you can't really tell they're wearing inserts, then so be it.
Why do so many guys exaggerate their height?
Because insecurity and no real care about honesty.

Why are so many guys willing to start a relationship on a lie in general? Because so many guys are insincere and in reality very different to how they may first come across.

(Coming from a straight guy btw.)
What makes me laugh is when dudes exaggerate their height - in person.

The number of people that say openly they're 5'9" - I'm 5'7" and its obvious that they're the same height as me. I don't understand it.

I'm standing right next to you - are you saying I don't know how tall I am?
It is certainly silly, but everyone has insecurities. Funny story, there was a guy who used to come on here who swore blind he was 6 feet tall, but when you met him he was certainly nowhere near. Especially when he stood next to and was shorter than someone who was 5'10. :rofl: Maybe he just hunched over, idk.
maybe im not understanding this, but perhaps dont meet so many guys online? if they are people you already know irl, then you would see better how tall they are. also, maybe go for extra tall, like defintiely 6ft, therfore without the shoes and shoe lifts he can't be less than 5ft10. and as for false advertising well...I hope you dont wear a padded bra, mascara, foundation, lip liner...
Reply 8
This is normally because of the "type" of man that a woman likes is tall. So we men, are normally always add an inch or two on so that we don't seem so short
Do they...? :K:
How did you find out his height? Did you take out a ruler. As long as he's taller than me then I don't care about the actual number.
Original post by Anonymous
I'm currently 19 and attending uni. I am about average height at 5'6 (168cm) and virtually every guy that has ever told me his height has added an inch or two. The problem for me is that when I find out their actual height, I feel lied to and almost violated. The worst is when guys wear shoe height inserts since it is essentially "false advertising" and it totally turns me off when we are about to get naughty and he takes his shoes off and I find out the 5'10 hunk is more like a 5'7 little brother. Honestly, this whole thing screams insecurity.

Why are so many guys willing to start a relationship on a lie?


guess they're this insecure about height & damn they really do buy those insoles that give them an added inch or two! plus be honest if you met a 5'7 would you have wanted to approach him/have him approach you? so obviously they'd know being tall means they can attract more girls as they'd be taller than more girls (thats if every single girl prefers a man same height/ taller which may not be the case but it is v common). im tall myself but a girl and guys do get v v insecure about their height that they start insulting tall girls .
Reply 12
general rule of thumb if you are a female and online dating is to subtract 2 inches from his self reported height and if you are not happy about dating a man that size then do not agree to a date.

eg: A Man states his height online as 5ft 10

you should be prepared for a man 5ft 8 to 5ft 10 to turn up as lying is so common. If 5ft 8 would be too short for you then do not agree to the date

[Almost every male I know has exaggerated his height when stating it online, usually by around 2 inches]
You could say a similar thing for girls. What they look like in photos and what they look like in real life can be very different.

Many guys have never seen girls without make up.

Aren't they also 'lying?'
I don't know why I am posting or indeed have read such a girly thread. Procrastination ftw.

But it's not a lie to please girls. Men lie to each other about it. Also I've had people tell me I must be 6ft7+ because they were 6ft4 and I had 3/4 inches on them. It wasn't a "lie"; they just had faulty stats.
Insecure short guys are really stupid for lying about their height, in terms of height girls can roughly tell your actual height by comparing you to themselves or someone else they know so they just make themselves look silly when they meet in person. Now girls are going to be suspicious of what men claim their height is if they have not seen them and it will be harder for short guys since girls know many of them lie about their height and therefore expose their insecurity. Everyone has insecurities but i'm glad im tall.
(edited 6 years ago)
Good thing I'm 6'4'' then eh
Original post by Anonymous
I'm currently 19 and attending uni. I am about average height at 5'6 (168cm) and virtually every guy that has ever told me his height has added an inch or two. The problem for me is that when I find out their actual height, I feel lied to and almost violated. The worst is when guys wear shoe height inserts since it is essentially "false advertising" and it totally turns me off when we are about to get naughty and he takes his shoes off and I find out the 5'10 hunk is more like a 5'7 little brother. Honestly, this whole thing screams insecurity.

Why are so many guys willing to start a relationship on a lie?


Someone call the whambulance
If you consider sexual selection and the fact that men and women tend toward certain body types among other things when picking a partner (for evolutionary reasons). Of course, there are many criteria which aren't anatomical that are favourably selected for such as intelligence etc which you should try and improve on (if possible) if you cannot change the physical.

I was not aware that short men lying about their height was such a common thing, I am however not surprised. There are other behaviours that can be considered "false advertising" or "lying" to the potential mate that is common. You can see these all the time, men do things like wear tight fitting shirts to appear more muscular and women wear makeup to appear more youthful or wear clothes to emphasise their breasts to make them appear larger. If men do indeed wear shoe inserts to make them appear taller, this could also be to with there appearance and competition with other males, perhaps they feel that if they appear taller then other men will give them more respect.

The sort of behaviour described above is by no means original to the human species, you can observe the “false advertising” strategy in many other species. There is a good reason it is around as well as its one way of getting ahead of your competitors in the mating game.

Biology or phycology are not my fields and I am sure that somebody else on the forum knows much more than I do. I would appreciate it if they would correct me or explain further.
I'd never exaggerate my height, and I'm only 8ft 9in tall.

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