# tall men **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 21, 2000, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641 "2000-12-21T03:25:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/1 "2000-12-21T03:25:31Z")
It seems to me that tall men end up with higher paying and more leadership jobs than shorter men. This does not seem to hold for women though. Is this just my imagination or am I onto something. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/2 "2000-12-21T03:31:50Z")
Not so. In fact, studies have been done of this and it’s been shown that the tendency to get higher salaries and better leadership positions holds for both men and women. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/3 "2000-12-21T03:34:29Z")
Let me say that again more clearly: Studies have been done of this and it’s been shown that the tendency for taller people to get higher salaries and better leadership positions holds for both men and women. ---
**Author:** ![FloChi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58956e/32.png) [@FloChi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloChi)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/4 "2000-12-21T11:28:59Z")
It’s because we are more noticeable. I am a convenient meeting point for my friends when we go and do something. ‘We’ll all meet at FloChi, ok?’ So we tend to be remembered more often, leading to more promotions. Not that any are coming my way… ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/5 "2000-12-21T11:44:20Z")
It’s because tall people are more competent & trustworthy. Short people are sneaky and conniving. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/6 "2000-12-21T11:45:27Z")
[sub]Oops! Forgot to put my ‘just kidding’ smilies after that last post.[/sub] 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WillGolfForFood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/82dd89/32.png) [@WillGolfForFood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillGolfForFood)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/7 "2000-12-21T12:14:32Z")
It’s all a matter of mass and gravity. Tall people tend to be heavier than short people, so they have more mass and therefore more gravitational attraction. Everyone else eventually ends up rotating around them. Short people can counteract this tendency by wearing cinder blocks around their necks. ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/8 "2000-12-21T12:44:00Z")
I could post a sensible suggestion, namely that height and success at school (and, dare I say it, intelligence) are all symptoms of good nutrition and a nuturing environment, therefore they are not independent and so cause and effect need not be assumed (breath), but that would be to interrupt the more amusing sillyness around here, so I won’t. Meet at FloChi indeed. Very droll. pan ---
**Author:** ![aschrott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aca169/32.png) [@aschrott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aschrott)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/9 "2000-12-21T14:04:23Z")
I’m 6’4’’, and I’m thinking that this trend has completely passed me by ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/10 "2000-12-21T15:01:42Z")
In fact, the desire of some short people to overachieve in the face of tall people’s success has a name. Perhaps you’ve heard of the “Napoleonic complex.” ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/11 "2000-12-21T15:10:34Z")
us short people… we’ve got no reason to live ☹ -OpalCat 5’2" on thick carpet. ---
**Author:** ![Blackclaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@Blackclaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackclaw)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/12 "2000-12-21T15:16:30Z")
Tall people (hear-after referred to as “Freaks of Nature”) may get more attention, but are in fact considerable less intelligent as gravity prevents enough blood from flowing to their brain. Freaks of nature are mostly good for use as lamp-shade holders, speedbumps, and of course basketball. Actually I just am tired of having friends who are all over 6’ and make my average height look short. I don’t have an inferiority complex and I’m willing to embark on world conquest to prove it. Or does that contradict my point? ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/13 "2000-12-21T15:27:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OpalCat \* > \*\*us short people… we’ve got no reason to live ☹ > > -OpalCat > 5’2" on thick carpet. \*\* That’s quite a leap there kittycat. I think you may have overreached yourself with that statement. ---
**Author:** ![Blackclaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@Blackclaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackclaw)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/14 "2000-12-21T15:37:09Z")
Opal, Get revenge. Lower all your ceilings to 5 feet, 5 inches. ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/15 "2000-12-21T17:57:15Z")
I think it is because, as children, we become used to associating hight with maturity and leadership. ---
**Author:** ![Yarster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7c8e57/32.png) [@Yarster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yarster)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/16 "2000-12-21T19:23:37Z")
Funny, just the other day, we were talking about how almost all the successful biotech companies here in San Diego were started by a single guy named Howard Birndorf. I’ve seen this guy, and he’s maybe 5’5" with platform shoes on. ---
**Author:** ![dublos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f08c70/32.png) [@dublos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dublos)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/17 "2000-12-21T20:05:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by kabbes > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally posted by OpalCat > > \*\*us short people… we’ve got no reason to live > > > > -OpalCat > > 5’2" on thick carpet. \*\* > > That’s quite a leap there kittycat. I think you may have overreached yourself with that statement Umm kabbes, I think she was makin a funny, quoting the song. Then again I may be totally ignoring the puns intended by leap and overreaching too 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eissclam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/2acd7d/32.png) [@Eissclam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eissclam)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/18 "2000-12-21T20:07:09Z")
Actually, its the other way around. We THINK that they are tall becuase they have power (and thus, presumably, money). See: The Rise and Fall of Politicians: The Judged Heights of Broadbent, Mulroney and Turner Before and After the 1988 Canadian Federal Election. By P. Higham and W.D. Carment in Canadian journal of behavioural science. JUL 01 1992 v 24 n 3 404 ---
**Author:** ![AETBOND417](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@AETBOND417](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AETBOND417)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/19 "2000-12-21T21:20:28Z")
IIRC, the taller candidate has won every US presidential election (save two) since televised presidential debates started. Kennedy and George W. Bush, I think. ---
**Author:** ![bashere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bashere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bashere)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641/20 "2000-12-21T21:40:47Z")
Tall people work harder. We have no choice. Can you imagine how difficult it is to fly coach when you are, say, 6’6" (for those of you using the metric system, that is 5’18"). So, we have to work hard, get ahead, and be able to fly first class, where there is room to stretch out. Plus, there are none of those annoying short people up there 🙂 In a last ditch attempt to make this relevant: I’ve also heard that attractive people make more than unattractive - to the tune of 20%, in fact. I don’t remember where I heard this, unfortunately. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tall-men/46641.md?page=2)