If you are taller than average in the country you find yourself in, you are considered a tall man. If you are shorter than your country average, you will be considered short.
As these are considerations, they are entirely subjective. Whether you are considered tall or short as a man relates to 1) the observer(s) who makes the call and 2) the geographical and social context you’re in.
You can find many definitive numbers on the internet on what a tall man is in different parts of the world. These numbers are often either highly subjective to the writer—or a comparison of the person asking and the average male height of that specific country.
Let’s take a closer look at when men are considered to be tall.
3 Most Common Ways to Determine Whether a Man is Tall or Not
To find out if you are tall or not, there are a few different suggested ways to make the call. Most of them either consider the country average and compare your height to that. Or they base their opinions on personal experience. We’ll look into some of the best methods here.
Compare Your Height to Your Country Average
The simplest way to conclude if you’re tall or not is to look around you. If you’re in the US, compare your own height to the North American average for men, which is 5’9″ (177 cm).
If you are 5’10” (178 cm) or taller, you are considered taller than average in North America.
Whether that puts you in the tall category is another question. You probably have to be in the top quartile (top 25%) of American men to be considered tall.
Use Tall Clubs’ Height Requirements as Guide
There exists clubs around the world for tall people, and these clubs have requirements for how tall you must be to join.
If you are tall enough to join a tall club, you can definitely consider yourself tall.
The general height requirement for Tall Clubs International is 5’10” for women and 6’2″ for men.
If you are 6’2″ (188 cm) or taller, you can consider yourself tall enough to join Tall Club International.
Local tall clubs have different height requirements. But as a general rule, I’d say that if you can join the international tall club, you are definitely taller than average and can consider yourself a tall man.
It should be a great place for tall people to socialise, meet tall friends and maybe even a tall spouse to share your life with.
Be in the Top 10% of Tallest Men in your Country
Allowing myself to present another subjective measure, you’d most likely be considered tall if you are in the top 10% of the tallest men in your country of residence.
According to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, only 11% are taller than 6’1″ in the United States.
If you are 6’2″ (188 cm) or taller, you are in the top 10% of the tallest Americans.
Most people would consider the top 10% a minority and elite in any field. If tall is at the extreme end of the scale, being in the top 10% would define you as a tall person.
Use Class Photos or Group Pictures to Compare Yourself to Peers
A very practical and fast way to determine whether you should be considered tall as a man is to pull out one of the old class photos.
Even though you might be sitting down (or standing in the back), it’s easy to visually compare your eye-level to that of those around you.
If you don’t have a class photo, you can use any other group photo where you are standing together with other people.
If your eyes are higher up than the other’s in a group photo, you are most likely taller than your friends.
You still need to consider any demographic or geographic differences. Context matters a lot, as you can see in this photo of my trip to Thailand.
So, in order to be considered tall as a man via the “photo method” suggested here, it needs to be a photo of you and your friends in the country you live in.
Listen to your Observers (or the Internet)
A good way to assess whether you can be considered tall or short is to listen to people commenting on this specific question.
It’s seems like there is a general opinion, e.g on Quora or Reddit, that a certain height defines if your are tall enough.
If you are 6’0″ (183 cm) or taller, you are considered a tall man according to the Internet.
People revolve around the numbers 6’0″ and 6’1″ as the height from which you are tall. This height is called “somewhat tall”, “ideal height” and plainly “tall”.
With no definitive answer to whether you can be considered tall or not, the opinion of the observer(s) is a good place to look for answers.
What is the most attractive height for a man?
Dating app, Badoo, has revealed their data on what the height is of the men who receive the most right-swipes.
The most right-swiped height is 5’8″ (173 cm) for men and 5’5″ (165 cm) for women.
In order to be a bit source critical, Badoo gained massive popularity in the Asian countries, where people are generally shorter.
If you are 5’8″, you can forget about this and just enjoy being the most attractive height, according to one of the largest dating apps in the world.
Is 5 feet X enough for a guy?
Short answer; yes. It all comes down to confidence, and that confidence comes from within and is built over time.
You might feel less manly if you’re shorter than average (and maybe shorter than the girls in your class or workplace). However, you cannot let that influence your self-esteem.
You can’t do much about the height you’ve been granted, genetically. You can only maximise your genetic potential for height throughout your childhood and adolescence.
If you have surpassed the age of 21, you probably won’t grow much taller than you are now.
So, you have to accept the physical attributes you have, and make the best of them. Lifting weights is one solution if you want to appear more manly. Although, this can’t be overdone, as proportions need to be balanced between height and width.
Whether you are enough or not is a feeling that needs to come from within. You are enough as you are, no matter how tall or small.
You need to constantly cultivate that feeling and build an interesting and kind personality on that foundation—no matter how tall you are.
What do you think?