NEW YORK, April 14 — Is the reign of the tall coming to an end? Long criticised and mocked, short men are now enjoying a moment in the spotlight on social networks, and are conquering women’s hearts. Gone are the days when women would pass up dates and potential relationships because of a few centimetres, shattering the prejudices weighing on the shoulders of shorter men. On social media, the phenomenon translates into the ‘Short King’ hashtag, which is gaining more traction every day.
Everything small is cute, they say. Except that some standards of appearance are hard to live with, and men rarely embrace this expression when it’s applied to them. Indeed, stereotypes linked to size typically associate tall men with security, charisma, and even virility. But times are changing, and it seems that so-called ‘short’ men — those whose height doesn’t exceed 1.75m (or around 5 ft 8) — are (finally) taking their revenge. On social networks, TikTok and Twitter in particular, women are expressing their love for ‘short kings,’ whether they’re taller or shorter than them... it doesn’t matter anymore.
The expression “short king,” a term that has emerged to refer to men of small stature, or shall we say average stature, isn’t exactly new. The expression was used for the first time in 2018 by American comedian Jaboukie Young-White. At the time, the artist pounded his fist on the table, or rather on twitter: “i’m f**king tired of ‘short’ being used as an insult. ‘Short’ gave you Donald Glover. ‘Short’ gave you Tom Holland. ‘Short’ gave you Daniel Kaluuya. ‘Short’ gave you Bruno f**king Mars. “Short kings” are the enemy of body negativity, and i’ll be forever proud to defend them.” It needed to be said. Nearly four years later, their day of glory seems to have arrived, with some even referring to 2022 as the year of the ‘short kings.’
Influential celebrities
Tom Holland, Pharrell Williams, Joe Jonas, and even Tom Cruise, to name just a few, are among the celebrities who do not reach the 1.8-metre (5 ft 9) mark, given by many as a kind of base height for men, and they are all doing very well. They all have something else in common as well: being (or having been) in a relationship with a taller woman. And that’s exactly what is inspiring men and women across the world, and more specifically the younger generations who have no use for such stereotypes. In fact, these celebrities are directly associated with the hashtag #shortking and #shortkingspring which are continually growing on social networks.
On TikTok, #shortking has already reached nearly 350 million views, while #shortkingspring has chalked up 1.6 million, with a lot of the videos featuring short men. And if there is a couple that stands out in the matter, it is Zendaya and Tom Holland. The five centimetres that separate the star of the “Euphoria” series and the movie star who plays Spider-Man in the latest film franchise seem to have become one of the examples to follow on social networks.
As a result, women are no longer shy about proclaiming their love for these “short kings” and even enjoy celebrating the centimetres that separate them from their loved one. “American women should show more love to short men,” reads a video of a couple back to back with the message: “When we stopped hiding our height difference and showed everyone that it’s okay to be a short king and tall queen...” Almost all the comments express similar sentiments. “i’ve always liked short men. i think they are more attractive!” says another. A genuine ode to those under 1.75m.
Better partners?
And if ‘tall’ men don’t hesitate to put their height in the spotlight on their dating site profiles — suggesting that it is seen by many as a physically attractive trait — it would seem that this characteristic is not always considered an advantage. In 2014, The Journal of Sexual Medicine published a scientific study, conducted with 531 heterosexual men, revealing that men measuring less than 1.75m were more sexually active and less likely to divorce. In conclusion, better partners on average. A finding that should help bring the “short kings” further into the spotlight and sound the death knell of these discriminations. — ETX Studio
