Another area for much mythmaking is over the relative attraction or importance of height. A bit like other appearance issues, we are always being fed opposite and confused messages by the media. Read the popular press and you will see: “Hunky 6’4” Mark with his huge pecs and biceps looks great in his board shorts at the glamorous resort in the sun where 43 women have been chasing him for attention day and night” or whatever. A comment you will not read in such a slavish way about someone who is 5’4”, and averagely overweight slapping on the suntan cream at this ‘glamorous resort’, even if 143 women are chasing him night and day. That really is just a fact. It is nothing to get too bothered about either.
But what IS tricky is that the same newspaper will then repeat trite comments elsewhere in the paper about “appearance not mattering”….”it’s inside what counts”. If that were the case, then the media coverage would be the same about that someone of average height and average body at that ‘glamorous resort’. Media coverage = exposure = money for those favoured with appearance because they look good. That really is a fact as well.
Something is attractive because it attracts, and usually physically. And this counts, whether we like it or not. And height is PART of that, again whether we like it or not.
Where this affects us is that height is one of the key factors of appearance (specially for a man) and the odd inch or two really does make an incredible difference. It is also really easy to achieve discreetly. People who will say “height doesn’t matter” will in almost the same breath mention a tall guy they know favourably in direct link to his height. They also do not really understand the inconsistency of their comments and approach. This of course is a lesson which we have to learn very quickly that what people say is NOT always what they mean (“you look very nice,” becomes “doesn’t she look a mess” when ‘she’ is out of the room).
You get this about height – lots of comments online suggesting that relatively normal heights are ‘too tall’. Always accompanied by clichés about the difficulty of sitting in cars and on board a flight. Well it’s ALL rubbish – there is no such thing as ‘too tall’ or indeed ‘too short’. But there are some simple facts about height shorn of the emotive special pleading by people who have issues with it.
Most men could benefit from having a couple extra inches of height, and it’s all really about how you finesse achieving it. Having done it since about 1999/2000, I can tell you that I myself will NEVER want to go back to my ‘real’ height, a view/desire which most of the guys I have discussed it with share. I get a better response adding height, and know that you can get a relatively low but crucial additional couple of inches in a way that no-one could ever guess.
I concede that someone like myself who adds 5” has more considerations to take into account, with lifestyle, greater need to avoid detection etc. But for 2” or even 3”? No sweat at all. And it makes an amazing difference.
Through my posting of advice online, I advise one guy in the US who is a moderately well-known sportsman, retiring from playing soon and wants to be seen as taller. Already very tall. He was really tricky to advise because (and I understand this) in his position there is greater scrutiny of his appearance etc. But when he finally took the plunge and bought a 3” pair, he was just stunned that no-one said a thing – not even his wife. As he said to me, she would be THE FIRST to say something and would have no qualms about doing so. He still cannot believe it. I think even at his height his wife might have grasped it had he gone for 5” boots. But who knows?
The key with taking down this myth about appearance not mattering is to not overly bother about it and just accept that it DOES matter (whatever is said) and that if you want to do something about it, then take the bull by the horns and just do it. Listen to the subtexts of what is said and you realize that it IS important and that you CAN benefit from added height. But it is not vital – you don’t HAVE to do it to get the girl or the job. But height helps.
