Well, I may be able to help your google-fu, and I would be interested in some of your results.
The notion you refer to, that a point around the hips is the halfway point of height, probably comes from Da Vinci’s Vitruvain Man, which was itself based on the works of a Roman architect named Vitruvius who apparently was an early proponent of ergonomics. He felt the size of things like doors should be based on the size of people, and the height of handles should be based on the height of hands and such.
Thing is, I’ve not encountered much to suggest that Vitruvius’ ideas about human proportion, like that the measure of outstretched arms from fingertip to fingertip is equal to height, were actually right.
Da Vinci proved that at least they made for a picture that looks right to our eyes, but I don’t know how many people match those “ideal” proportions.
I know they certainly don’t match me: the length across my outstretched arms is 6 feet 2 inches, the distance from the sole of my feet to “the base of the penis” (as Da Vinci and Vitruvius apparently defined that point) is 2 feet 7 inches.
I am neither 6’2" nor 5’2" tall, but rather just over halfway in between.
I have seen a few images that try to hold women to the same proportions. To my untrained eye they look wrong.
I share your curiosity about what percentage of the population differs from those proportions and by how much, what the medians are for women, and particularly I have been trying to learn more about how they change as children age.
Like, I have a guess that an “average” Vitruvian dude will have an inseam that is about 46% his total height. But what was his inseam when he was 12? When he was 6? It isn’t a straight linear progression based upon age, but the few “math for artists” sites my google-fu turned up made it one. And I have not been able to find any scientific studies.
I remember reading once that the exact proportions of the bones to one another are known and are always the same for each person. I may have misread that, but that was what I believed, at the time.
Then, I saw an episode (?) of the Merv Griffin talk show, when Totie Fields was on. Merv had the cameraman focus on Totie and Arthur Treacher sitting next to one another on the couch. Once it was established that they had the same height when seated, he asked them both to stand. Now the 6’ 4" Treacher towered over the 4’ 10" Fields.
Yeah, I am super trunk long. I stand 5’9" but have only a 29" inseam. I sit about as tall as the average six foot man. My 5’4" wife and I keep the driver seat in the same position, only I have to recline it slightly, otherwise my head is in danger of hitting the headliner.
you are the first person I’ve encountered with those measurements who was not closely related to me.
I am officially 5’8 1/2", 29" inseam. My father was the same. His father had a similar inseam, but was 6’ in his youth.
If Vitruvius and Da Vinci apparently defined “that point” as the “the base of the penis”, then the measurement from the soles of your feet to there isn’t even defined for female humans.
I’ll join your club! I’m 5’8" with a 29" inseam (maybe even shorter, it’s hard to measure oneself). When I sit down to eat I feel like my food is a mile away, especially since I have kind of big boobs too. I don’t eat soup hardly ever!
