A few hundred years ago the giants among us would have been chased out of town by angry mobs brandishing pitchforks, but times have certainly changed for those Mancunians that enjoy an extra few inches.
After years of ridicule and crouching through doorways, taller Manchester gents are set to have the last laugh according to survey conducted by the Manchester branch of High & Mighty.
Despite the recent influx of half-pint leading men, such as Game of Thrones’ Peter Dinklage, Lord of the Rings’ Frodo Baggins and Tom Cruise, taking to our screens, Manchester’s women seem unaffected, with 71.1% interviewed professing a preference for men over 6ft tall.
Psychologist Portia Hickey may have the answer to this phenomenon, she said: “Women’s attraction to taller men is likely to be driven by both evolution and positive stereotypes about tall men.
“Women are likely to associate a tall man with higher social and professional status as well as reproductive potential, making them seem more attractive.”
Most men surveyed agreed with their female counterparts with nearly 40% confessing to the belief that the ideal height for a man would be 6ft and over.
All this bodes well for Neil Fingleton, currently Britain’s tallest man, who’s surely set for a string of females throwing themselves at his massive feet, measuring up at an altitude sickness-inducing 7ft 5in.
Gill Politis, Managing Director of High and Mighty, has seen the increase at first hand and believes that her customer base is set to continue growing.
She said: “Although it now seems 6ft is just a starting point for desirability when it comes to men’s height, the survey findings don’t come as a complete surprise as we are seeing taller and taller guys come into our stores and shopping online.”
Research shows that due to improvements in diet and public health humans are getting taller, with the average man growing by four inches over the last century to a height of 5ft 10in and women have also shot up by an inch and a half.
It seems the message is clear for all you longshanks out there – your time is now!
Image courtesy of So Television via YouTube, with thanks
For more on this story and many others, follow Mancunian Matters on Twitter and Facebook.
