Get into activities where your lack of height is an advantage. The obvious one is dancing - height is a huge disadvantage to looking good on the dance floor…and women love guys who can dance.
I think height matters more than most people are willing to admit. Take a glance at the personal ads sometime. Lots and lots of women have height requirements listed. I’ve yet to see one that said anything like “no one over 5’6” please." Very few women (percentage-wise) marry men shorter than themselves. Of course there are exceptions.
I don’t know how helpful Peak Banana’s list is. I mean Stalin and Arafat? Who wants to be like them? Prince is the only one on the list who stood out to me as a sex symbol. Since I live in the Twin Cities, a lot of people I know have seen him. The standard comment is almost always something like “that guy is a f*cking midget!”
My advice to short guys is just accept the world for what it is and make the best of it. Some women will accept you at your height even if many won’t. Do you really want those in the “won’t” category? Odds are, you will find someone. I’d rather be alone than with someone so stupidly superficial anyway.
So that would be my advice to peachpit. Would be, that is, if you were short. But 5’7" 1/2 at age 16 isn’t short, it’s normal. I kind of get the feeling there is one particular gal who inspired these feelings of inadequacy in you. In that case, I would say move on. You may end up hitting 5’11" someday, but either way I would forget this one.
Watch it with the weightlifting. Too many short guys think, “I’m short, so I might as well get huge.” They then bulk up too much and become awkwardly-proportioned and look like shit. You have no idea how many little amateur bodybuilders that I see look like shit - 5’5", overdeveloped pecs, upper arms WAY too big for the forearms, neck too massive - they look horrible. peachpit, if you decide to go the bodybuilding route, resist the short-guy temptation to go overboard. Please bear in mind your body’s ideal proportions!!!
I am 5’7" and my best friend in the world, a guy who I go everywhere with and is like a brother to me, is 6’6", so I get to be conscious of my height all the time. (Actually this guy doesn’t like being stared at all the time and isn’t entirely happy with his height.) My other current best friends are both about 6’2" and incidentally, all through my life my best friends have been much taller than me.
Being short is shitty sometimes. I’ve never liked people saying that 5’7" is not that short, because while in theory it isn’t, in practice you and I are still shorter than most guys. Young men are taller than ever right now, and if you’re below average height at 19 or 20, a great many of your peers will be taller than you. But at 16, you may well have a few inches left to grow. I did grow at least 2 inches between 16 and 19, so it’s not out of the question.
5’5" guy here, happily married to a great gal.
I do understand male concern about height, I certainly not excited about being short, but I think if you think your height determines what type of man you are, thats just not right.
I had plenty of girlfriends growing up and I’m short AND not all that great looking. 
I made up for it with personality and spirit and those carried the day just fine.
What I am saying is, 5’7 or 6’9, be the best (cheesy line incoming) ‘you’ that you can be, and people will notice.
Yawn. Height is such a non factor in real life. Unless you’re trying to join the NBA, this will not even be an issue in another year or so.
I hit 5’7" at age 15 and it hasn’t changed since. The only thing that I would change would be my shoe size, at a mens 6 1/2 it nearly impossible to find anything.
Yeah, what he said.
For the record, I’m 5’11" (female, as username implies) and my spouse is shorter than you, peachpit. Any girl worth having is smart enough to realize that sometimes, good things come in small packages
This is about the zillionth thread about height (or the lack thereof) and I always like participating in these. I think I might hold the male record (so far) in this thread - I am 5’3" guy. Does that make a big difference in the Grand Scheme of Life? Unfortunately yes. I remember (in another thread) someone posting statistics about earning power vs height and there are siginificant differences. (Basically salary is proportional to height).
It has been said that more often than not the taller of the 2 presidential candidates will be the winner. That’s all well and good but I like to ask the question “and when does the 5’3” guy get elected?" (James Madison and that’s it). The campaign managers of “Dubya” Bush realized this and tried to avoid his being near John Kerry (the taller candidate). Notice they weren’t situated side by side in the debates?
Some people think I’m rather intelligent (but here at the SDMB that’s the “norm”). Anyway, I would willingly drop my IQ to a perfectly normal 100 if I could be 6’3". (I know it sounds as if I’m saying that because I know it will never happen - but no - I’m really sincere about that.)
I remember this great quote from the pilot episode of the TV show “Ironside” in which the recently-paralyzed Robert Ironside is talking to Mark. The Chief says “There you are complaining about being black yet I’ve got 2 useless legs and I’m stuck in a wheelchair.” Mark replies “If you were black for just one day, you’d be screaming ‘stick me in an iron lung but make me white again’ !!” Yes, I know I’m bringng the race issue into this, but maybe the bigger question should be “does a person’s appearance really make a difference in life?” I think you know my answer to that question.
So, you say you are only 5’ 7½" tall? From my perspective that’s pretty damned good. Seriously, I think you’ll do okay in life.
Look at it this way: you’ve got a built-in filter against women with this particular kind of shallowness. That can save you a fair amount of time and heartache.
And not all of us insist on men who are taller than us. I’ve been attracted to men who were 5’0" or so (3" shorter than me) and men who were 6’8".
There are things called “stepladders” that intelligent short people can use to get lightbulbs off shelves. Some of the really smart ones only put things they need frequently on shelves they can easily reach 
Speaking as a girl, a guy’s height has never been a factor in whether or not I found them attractive. I’m 5’3" and having a guy who is only a little taller than me would actually be a bonus, because it’s easier to kiss them. 
Ok, the coffee is starting to kick in and I realize that sounded a little snippy, sorry about that.
As far as the pluses of being 5/7ish…
You’ll have better posture since you never have to duck to avoid hitting your head.
Less head injuries, see above.
Less likely to have those painful growth spurts I hear taller people get.
Not having to buy new clothes every 3 months during your teens.
Shorter guys are often considered cute, work that to your advantage.
I’m sure there’s a lot more, but those are a few off the top of my head. (as close to the ground as that is.)
Of course you’re depressed. After all, you got no reason to live.
But yeah, to me 5’7" is hardly short. My dad is about that height and I don’t consider him short. My boyfriend is only a few inches taller than me (so, maybe around 5’6"? I haven’t asked) and you know, it’s kind of nice being able to kiss him without getting on my toes, or hugging him and having my face dig into his chest. I wouldn’t say I prefer short guys because it really doesn’t matter, but I do think it’s more physically comfortable to date someone closer to my height. Also I tend to prefer men that are “non-bulked” and sometimes non-bulky tall guys look gangly. Being 2" off “the norm” is nothing to get upset over.
well i just wanna say thanks! so far this has boosted my view on this quite a bit! and here i thought everyone here would be a jerk about it! thanks so much
No, we’re usually jerks about other things. Try us on “declawing cats” or religion sometime . . .
well i have a declawed cat and im a born-again Christian
Isn’t the average woman 5’4"? Dude - you’ve got 3.5 inches on the average woman - I’m thinking you have nothing to worry about.
Also, FWIW, I’m a talish woman (5’8") and I almost universally have dated guys within an inch or two of my height either way. Frankly, really big tall guys are a bit intimidating. Obviously, some gals like their men big, but I think there’s an equal percentage that don’t. And I’m one of them. And I’m super hot, so there you go.
Sounds like you have more to worry about than being short.
(I kid, I kid!!)
To offer some perspective from the other side of the spectrum as it were:
I am a girl, and 5’11. I have been freakishly tall my whole life. My mom currently wears a pair of grubby tennis shoes that were mine in the 2nd grade. I’m taller than my father, and I have been at least an inch taller than most of my boyfriends (which, coincidentally, never bothered me or them). You know what’s worse than being shorter than you’d like and wondering if you’ll get any taller? Being taller than you’d like and knowing you’ll never, ever get any shorter!!
Everyone would like to be different than what they are…taller, shorter, skinnier, curvier, whathaveyou. As much as you want to be taller, I bet there’s a ton of other people who’d love to be shorter.
oooooh…i got served 
haha…funny funny
I’m about 5’2, I guess I’ll just go kill myself now.
Yes, I’m not a guy, but I have never in my life encountered a girl who seriously saw less than 5’10 in her man as a dealbreaker.
No! Don’t do that! I’m 5’3", and need somebody to be shorter than me.