# Why do women have disproportionate size feet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 6, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924 "2003-09-06T13:07:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NightUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c67d28/32.png) [@NightUK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightUK)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/1 "2003-09-06T13:07:23Z")
Why do women have disproportionately small feet? I know girls who are the same height as me with much much smaller feet. Can you genius’s answer this question? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![ski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@ski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ski)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/2 "2003-09-06T13:43:47Z")
It gives us men more traction when dragging them into our cave by the hair? Or it gives us more stability after knocking them out and carrying them over our shoulder into our cave. Take your pick. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![NightUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c67d28/32.png) [@NightUK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightUK)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/3 "2003-09-06T13:48:48Z")
Errr funny but doubt it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/4 "2003-09-06T13:49:52Z")
The smaller the foot and the bigger the mouth, the easier it is to fit tab A into slot B. ---
**Author:** ![NightUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c67d28/32.png) [@NightUK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightUK)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/5 "2003-09-06T13:52:53Z")
I thought god gave them little feet so they could never fill man’s shoes. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/6 "2003-09-06T13:54:35Z")
So they could perform the [chair](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=204930) lift. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/7 "2003-09-06T14:03:13Z")
Because their penises are very small. ---
**Author:** ![NightUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c67d28/32.png) [@NightUK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightUK)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/8 "2003-09-06T14:06:03Z")
Your girl got a penis astro? That aint natural but its also a different debate 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/9 "2003-09-06T14:18:44Z")
Geniuses. Not genius’s. Warning: The following is only a guess; my memories of learning this in school are vague. Women are not men. They have different proportions throughout their bodies. Narrower shoulders, wider hips, and a completely different center of gravity (_because_ they have wider hips and so forth). The center of gravity thing might be why their feet are smaller (and have higher arches, unless they’re me and have gone almost flat-footed from walking pigeon-toed). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/10 "2003-09-06T14:23:50Z")
I read an article recently (can’t find it again for a cite) that the shoe sizes of both men and women have increased tremendously over the past century. Men from a size 6 1/2 to a size 9 or 10; women from a size 4 to a size 8. So it’s my guess that nutrition and environmental factors play a part in addition to the natural tendency of women to be overall smaller than men. As women become larger and taller, their feet are also becoming more in propotion to the rest of their bodies. ---
**Author:** ![NightUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c67d28/32.png) [@NightUK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightUK)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/11 "2003-09-06T14:31:23Z")
Now thats what I call an answer (~~\>\>\>pointing at racinchikki and Exapno Mapcase). Cheers peeps! ---
**Author:** ![ceptimus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@ceptimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ceptimus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/12 "2003-09-06T14:38:53Z")
It’s one of those ‘evolutionary’ things - it enables them to stand closer to the sink while they’re washing the dishes 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/13 "2003-09-06T16:10:45Z")
What makes you think its not male feet that are disproportiionately large? “me” does not always equal “benchmark” ---
**Author:** ![Bob55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Bob55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob55)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/14 "2003-09-06T18:26:05Z")
Desmond Morris might explain it by saying it helps give them their ‘childlike’ qualities that make them seem defenseless in the eyes of a big strong male (smaller, smoother skin, higher voice, etc). A male might be less likely to choose a mate with bigger male-like features. So, maybe us men have selected for the smaller feet? ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/15 "2003-09-06T18:44:09Z")
**NightUK** , the girls you know, [is their foot the same size as the inside of their forearm?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=204768) ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/16 "2003-09-06T18:50:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racinchikki \* > Women are not men. I had been suspecting this for quite some time but was not entirely sure. I am glad to have it confirmed now. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/17 "2003-09-06T20:06:57Z")
They don’t. You’re just going by too small a sample. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/18 "2003-09-06T21:59:21Z")
Well, I think it’s more accurate to say that _some_ do and _some_ don’t. Let’s not overgeneralize in the opposite direction. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/19 "2003-09-06T22:41:28Z")
They are not disproportionate. A person’s foot is the same length as the distance between his/her wrist and the bend of the arm. Take a look at the inside of your lower your arm. Your foot couldn’t be that long, could it? Try it. Ha! See? ---
**Author:** ![Not\_In\_Anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@Not\_In\_Anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_In_Anger)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924/20 "2003-09-06T22:46:43Z")
Girls have bizarrely small feet. They don’t need bigger feet, and their feet I have found attractive precisely because of their not being huge. The question is why men need big feet. We use them for what, exactly? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-have-disproportionate-size-feet/199924.md?page=2)