That’s the one that really doesn’t make sense - and men do it too.
As has been said above, one person’s “curvy” might be another person’s “a few extra pounds” and a third person’s “large.” There is some room for argument if someone classifies themselves a bit oddly. However 5’10" is 5’10" and if I’m definitively taller than the someone in flats, they are not 5’10".
I did the Internet dating thing a bit post divorce…and IME…yes, it happens but not just with weight.
I once met a woman who claimed to be 36. When I met her she had, HAD to be in her 50’s and probably in the upper 50’s at that. I had fun with her, asking questions like ‘what year did you graduate high school?’ and watching her try to quickly do the math in her head…or, since we were about the same age asked her what songs she liked in high school/college and so on. It was actually fun torturing her but hey, she was wasting my time.
As for weight, the formula seems to be ‘height weight proportionate’ means chubby but not obese. ‘A few extra pounds’ and above usually means obese.
It’s not just women either. I have heard from women that tried these sites that you should always subtract 2"-3" off what they say their height is and discount any claim to a high status occupation.
I don’t understand it either. I guess they hope you will meet and you will see how spectacular they are and overlook the mistruth.
I can see men adding a few inches to their height, because women tend to seek taller guys. I can see women doing the same, because most men like tall women (I don’t get that attraction – give me the shorties). But this woman actually made her height lower. Who does that? Maybe she just felt too big in all dimensions.
I just don’t get the point, though. You can fake your size right up until you meet someone, and then your deception becomes blindingly obvious. To an extent, same with age. You can maybe fake being 29 if you’re 32, but not if you’re 57.
It’s funny that you bring that up. I have a friend who has been getting really frustrated lately. She’s been asking my advice but I don’t know what to tell her. She gets plenty of responses from guys on Match, and has good online conversations with them. But the second she suggests talking on the phone or meeting up, she never hears from them again.
I think the official name is “myspace angle.”
Some guys are a little intimidated by taller women, and know that they’ll feel uncomfortable standing next to or dancing with a taller woman, especially if they’re already a little conscious of their height. And if a guy has a dozen possible matches, he might pay less attention to the woman who’s four inches taller than him. Besides, as you pointed out, women tend to seek taller guys- he might just trying not to waste his time.
But yes, this is probably even less sustainable than lying about your weight.
I think this is why most people do it. Maybe buying time to lose some weight, as well. I don’t think it’s disingenuous to omit details they are insecure about, as long as they don’t outright lie about it.
Ah, of course.
The moral of the story, kids, is be wary when looking for dates online, as many people (gender irrelevant) are not honest about what they’re like in person. 100% of the men I met online gave gross misrepresentations about their physical appearance, and 66.67% of these same guys turned out to be obsessive freaks. After three goes, I made a Note To Self: “You do not have problems finding dates, so please stop putting yourself through this bullshit now.” Instances of dating nightmares dramatically decreased.
I sort of have this problem. Almost all photos of me are outdoors, where I’m wearing a hat. I need to find some hatless ones to show I’m bald and not hiding it. The other thing is that I’m 5’5" and my friends are about 6’ or more. So if someone thinks that they’re average height then I must be 5’ or less.
Sigh.
In the pre-Internet days I did a lot of Dating Service and Want-Ad dates. One woman I contacted lied spectacularly about her weight. This was obvious as soon as I saw her. I suspect that she thought that no one would even meet her if she gave her true weight.
I like to think I’m not shallow enough to dismiss anyone on that basis. We dated for over a year, and I brought her to meet my friends and associates. But I didn’t think we were really compatible and a long-term couple, so I broke it off – the only time I can think of where I was the one to do so. I moved away shortly afterwards (another factor in my decision), but we corresponded for a while.
I signed up for OKCupid a while ago and one of the problems I had was finding a photo to post. The only ones I had were a few years old and weren’t that good. No hat, which wouldn’t matter because I still have all my hair, but the beard is a bit grayer now. If anyone asked, though, I was honest about my height and weight, neither of which was apparent from the photo I ended up using.
Everyone is skinny online. How else would we fit through those little plugs?
Guys lie about their heights, too. I met a guy through okcupid who listed himself as 5’11 on his profile. When I met him, I was about two inches taller than him, and the height on all my medical charts is 5’8. I was in sneakers, not in heels. I teased him very gently about this, to which he quickly responded that he WAS 5’11.
I was like, Um, what? Buddy, if you’re 5’11, then I’m 6’0. And there ain’t no way in hell I’m 6’0. He ended up giving me the ‘its not you, its me, let’s be friends’ bullshit speech, so the hell with him.
I did a search for that term. Funny http: encyclopedia dramatica.com/ Fat_girl_angle_shot first hit.
I think that these guys actually believe that they are that tall. I’m 6’2", myself, and when guys at work ask me how tall I am, I tell them. They are incredulous, and say, ‘You have to be much taller! I’m 6’ myself, and you tower over me!" What can I say? “You’re really 5’6”, because I’m 8 inches taller than you." Not cool. So now, when somebody asks me, I tell them ‘the last time I checked, in High School, I was 6’4", but I may have grown some.’ It makes them feel good.
hh
Probably ought to mark that first hit as not safe for work!
I tried to be brutally honest, actually making myself look worse when I did online dating. I characterized myself as “curvy” even though I’m a size 6 or 8, depending on the brand.
It worked out well, although I only met a few guys in person, they were all very pleasantly suprised when we did meet. One of them actually told me I really have to change my pictures because I look a lot better in person.
I don’t see the point in lying to make yourself look better if you have any intention of meeting people in person. Keep the expectations low, and you can’t help but impress. 
As a moderately Tall Chick, I can assure you that men liking tall women has never been my experience. Or at any rate, only if “tall” is defined as "almost as tall as the guy but definitely not any taller. If you’re a 6 footer, that’s going to knock out about 3/4 of your dating pool and that would get old pretty quickly.
Aspidistra seems pretty self-aware I won’t feel too bad agreeing that a LOT of men are intimidated by tall women. We may not dig tdn’s under 5’2" women either, but over 5’8" or certainly over 5’10" is tall enough to scare a lot of men. Virtually all men I’ve ever known have liked 5’4" to 5’7" women.
So lying your height from 6’ to 5’ 10" makes sense.
I like all heights, personally.
Aw, you’re nice.
Most guys think they are taller than they really are by 2" or more. They don’t seem to be lying; just deluded somehow.
Just like ‘120 lbs’ is assumed to be a normal weight for an average slender woman (even though the average is more like 160 lbs at 5’4", and 120 lbs can look vastly different on different heights), 5’11" or 6’ perceived as a normal height for not-short guys. So they have to live up to it.