I would be really happy if it was only 50% of the women that would flat-out reject a guy under 5’10", because I am under the impression that it’s more like 95%.
In fact, there was one poll that showed that only 1.2% of Manhattanites would contact a man under 5’9".
I’m almost 5’11 and I don’t date anyone who’s not my height or taller. That’s a physical preference I have. Just like some men don’t prefer tall women. Or some women really love bald guys. It is what it is.
When I was 16 and gangly and undateable it felt like the end of the world. Spoiler: it wasn’t. It isn’t for you, either. Get out of your head and just start living life and racking up experiences. That’s what will make you interesting to people - not just to women. Mostly of all, relax, Grasshopper.
For some women, it will be huge, giant, flashing red warning sign handicap, and they’re probably going to reject you out of hand once they get to know you. Those women are what’s called racist, and you don’t want to date racists anyway. Think of it as having an extra asshole filter automatically built in.
And for what it’s worth, I’ve not encountered those particular stereotypes of Indian guys. Although I suppose the stereotype I have encountered could be broadly lumped under the heading of “creepy.” That stereotype I’m talking about is that Indian guys tend to treat women, even romantic partners, as underlings, and that Indian people in general tend to treat underlings like servants. And the Indian guy I used to work for, his whole family was exactly like that. If I ever looked like I was considering talking to my mother the way he talked to his, I’d still be picking my teeth out of the wall, because Mom would have slapped them clean out of my mouth. And we won’t even get into how his dad would talk to us on the staff. :eek:
He means that part of the reason some people think Indian people smell funny (not unhygienic, just different from most white people) that some foods very common in Indian food can very strongly affect body odor for a day or two after digesting them. Garlic is especially well-known for this, because its effect can be so marked and it’s common in such a wide range of cuisines that people are much more likely to have experienced the effect with it than with other ingredients. Apparently, some people claim that eating dairy with the garlic stops it from affecting your body odor as strongly. Since you seem to be worried that white people will think you smell funny, that might be an option for helping reduce that risk.
Regardless, don’t spend your time freaking out over it. Nobody likes being around people who constantly freak out over how they’re being perceived. It’s exhausting to be around.* Take reasonable steps like bathing, brushing, and flossing, and then let it go and get on with your life.
*This is true about your height, your hair, your conversation, your clothes, your job, your car, your hobbies, pretty much everything.
That’s more than 3400 girls between the ages of 15 and 19. In just one city. Almost another 4000 between 20 and 24.
You only need one.
That’s gotta be wrong, because almost all the men I know who are under 5’10" still managed to get laid and/or married.
Let’s look at a few extremes, shall we?
Peter Dinklage is 4’5" tall and he’s married. With a kid.
Warwick Davis is 3’6" tall and he’s married, too. With two kids. And he doesn’t have a problem with his 4’1" wife being taller than him.
Verne Troyer, who is 2’8" tall, was filmed by papparazzi while having sex with his live-in girlfriend in 2008 so even if he’s not married he’s still getting some.
Dude, if THOSE guys can land a girl so can you. Wait, you might say, aren’t they well known actors? Well, yeah, they didn’t just sit around feeling sorry for themselves, they got on with their lives and, oh surprise, they got laid along the way and two of them wound up with women wanting to stick around for the long haul. Which gets back to the point that you can have a significant appearance handicap and still do well socially. Compared to those guys you’re a giant.
What you lack is confidence. Which is sort of normal at your age. The cure is to talk to girls. Socialize with mixed groups of people. Cultivate hobbies and interests to make yourself an interesting person.
OK, then maybe you shouldn’t move to Manhattan…
Polls aren’t everything. Don’t panic. You will have sex. You will have girl friends. Odds are, you’ll get married and have kids because the majority of people do that regardless of height, ethnicity, family background, religion or lack of it, hair color, eye color, and about a bajillion other variables.
AU, there are a LOT of women who will see your being Indian as an exotic turn-on. I’ve always liked guys from different backgrounds and cultures.
95% of women absolutely will not consider dating a man in a height range that around half of men fall into? Think about that for a minute. You need to get a grip, dude.
Not necessarily; some women just aren’t attracted to certain skin colors - doesn’t mean their racist, am I right?
We can only hope…I have been a hopeless romantic (as in the type who dream of being in love but can’t get anyone and are lonely, not the idealist type) for over three years (then again, not too long, but remember it does feel like it when half of the school population is having fun kissing their boyfriends/girlfriends and hold hands with them while I can only watch). Let’s hope it will come true sometime in college.
I am actually hopeful for college because I will have a fresh start and won’t have to worry about parental consent.
The last two CBT therapists I had said I was “too screwed up to have any hope of being normal.” The most recent one I started with this year went even further and told me, explicitly, that I was “by far the worst anxious person she’d ever seen” and I should “just give up forever.” So I don’t think it will help. She even said that even if I manage to get a PhD (which I’m about to go do) that I probably wouldn’t have a good hope of even getting a job. Every time I try psychology my psychologist just crushes me and tells me I have no hope. 
This has come up before on the SDMB, and one or multiple posters pointed out, IIRC, that this does mean that they’re racist (not the posters, the people who lack the attraction) because many “racial” characteristics can actually be found in numerous different “racial” groups; thus such preferences actually stem from preconceived notions of what a certain “race” will be like, and that is racist.
Or words to that effect.
Okay, so you’re 16 and 5’3". But how tall is your dad? How old was he when he got that tall? My little brother and I both grew pretty slowly. I’m female, but I was 4’8" until I was 15 and didn’t reach my adult height of almost 5’4" until college. Most girls are done growing several years sooner than that. My brother was shorter than me until he was 15 and as an adult he’s almost 5’11". We probably got this slowness to grow from my mom, since she and her siblings took forever to grow too.
I also went to high school with this kid Rich who was shorter than me through the end of 10th grade (him being in 10th, I was in 12th) and was shocked to learn that by the end of his senior year he’d grown a foot. My point is, unless you have two short parents, it’s a bit soon to write yourself off as forever short. If you were 20…
That’s not “willing to date”, though, that’s “would contact on a dating site”. Dating sites are skewed toward the superficial because that’s all there is. So yeah, if you are really hung up on conducting your love life through internet dating, your height will be a bigger disadvantage than in other contexts. The exact same thing is true for a woman carrying even a little extra weight or single parents of either gender or any number of factors. Luckily, the world is full of other ways to meet women.
Honestly, you’re reading too much into the height and race thing. My father’s 5’4", and he got married (and still is!) some 36 years ago. He clearly got laid at least twice as my parents have two kids. 
My husband’s right at 5’7"-ish, and his height was never an issue for me. The fact that he is witty, intelligent, charming, that we have similar hobbies, and genuinely and truly loves me is why I married him. I didn’t even register his height. Most of my exes are all around the same height too – I think I only really dated two 6’+ guys in almost 15 years.
Now, as for the Indian thing, speaking as a Western born Indian woman, its all about culture and attitude. If I (hypothetical western woman, not me specifically) were to get into a relationship with you, am I going to be expected to look after your parents when they get old/infirm? Are you going to expect a “traditional” wife, who looks to you as the head and decisionmaker of the family? If your mother doesn’t like me, whose side are you going to take?
If you show a woman that you are not going to do the stereotypical Indian male thing of putting your blood family’s priorities above the priorities of you and her together as a couple, it won’t matter whether you’re Indian or not.
Out of the three guys I’ve been with, one was 5’7" and one 5’8". Of course not. I’d much rather short than very tall, for a lot of reasons.
I’m average height but one of my sisters is 5’10", and she usually dates men shorter than her.
It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re racist, no. But every one of the women I know IRL who aren’t at least open to the possibility because they just don’t find dark-skinned guys attractive are scared to drive through a neighborhood full of black people without the car doors locked, iyswim. I’m sure there are other women out there in the world who won’t even consider the possibility based purely on skin tone who aren’t the tiniest bit racist, but they would seem rather thinner on the ground than the other sort.
I seriously doubt that much more than 1.2% of all women ANY man meets would be good couple material.
I’m an American male under 5’7". I had my share of dates and have been married for 25 years. Are there girls who won’t date a man under 5’10"? Yep. There are most likely girls who won’t date a man over 5’. Or who is skinny/fat/blond/brunette/funny/serious/etc. In other words, it takes all kinds. Yours is out there.
First, I strongly doubt that statistic about Manhattanites, and I’d guess that the sample was wildly unrepresentative. Certain neighborhoods of Manhattan have large numbers of Dominican and Puerto Rican men, who are not known for being particularly tall, and I strongly doubt all of them are sleeping alone every night.
Secondly, Doctor Jackson is right here. It is true that your height is a disadvantage, (and your race may be too), but all that means that you need to meet, socialize with, and ask out more women. The biggest determinant of dating success, for men, is self-confidence. Dating is a numbers game, and if you meet enough women, sooner or later one of them will be into you and will also be your ‘type’.
For the record, I’m Indian, somewhere between 5’7’’ and 5’8’', and there was a time in my life when I felt a lot like the OP. In reality, it wasn’t my height or race holding me back as much as my social anxiety. I had my first sexual relationship last summer, and I’m expecting things only to get better from here. 
Fenugreek, I think, much more than garlic. The OP should avoid fenugreek leaves like the plague. (it’s a tasty and nutritious vegetable, but it exudes in your sweat, so I don’t eat it).
Eh. There are a lot of people who could stand to pay a lot more attention to their clothes, colognes, etc… I know I could have, when I was the OP’s age.
Excellent advice. That probably goes a long way toward explaining why I didn’t go on a date until I was 20 and had periods of several years in my twenties with no dates. And I was six feet tall, in shape, and at least average looking. I’m sure I turned off a lot of women who may have been interested otherwise.
I have two teenage sons, so we’re probably going to be addressing this sooner than later.