Asian American Attitudes toward Height | Asian American Poll

AA ATTITUDE TOWARD HEIGHT
(Updated Wednesday, Jan 22, 2025, 06:39:09 AM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

Assuming you are an Asian American, how important is height in your assessment of a person's attractiveness?
It's a key element of attractiveness. | 20%
It's one of many factors I consider. | 44%
It's less important than other personal qualities. | 28%
I am not attracted to tall people. | 8%

Assuming you are an Asian American, which best matches your feelings toward your own height?
I'd like to be 3 inches taller. | 43%
I'd like to be an inch taller. | 27%
I'm happy with my height. | 26%
I'd like to be an inch shorter. | 4%

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Comments posted during the past year remain available for browsing.

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WHAT YOU SAY

[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]

Abc Chic
I think girls should be at least
5' 3" , you're too short.

Rico:
I'm 6' 2", Corean American born in Corea raised in America. I think it has alot to do with the diet. My father is about 5' 7" and my mother is 5'1" so go figure why I turned out this tall.
I think its well known Coreans and Northern Chinese are considered tall for East asians. hey, I like to know what you like abput Corea compared to Japan.
take care...congrats on England's 5-0 win over Germany.

Corean guy Tuesday, September 04, 2001 at 22:39:12 (PDT)

Curious Asian-American,

Climate supposedly does have impact on height. Cooler weather produces taller people. Something to do with surface area of the body. Eskimos and such are from COLD weather hence cool climate theory does not apply.

Cool weather also influences the shape of the nose. Higher bridge and longer nose is conducive to warming up and humidifying the cool, dry air. Ethiopians who live in the highlands have high nose bridge. Don't make the mistake that all of Africa is hot and humid. Native Americans from the Plains also tend to have high nose bridge. As for Middle Easterners, they are Caucasians, hence corresponding racial characteristics. Besides not all of Middle East is hot and dry. It's not all desert. Afghanistan, for example, is highlands.

But then again, these are just theories. There are always exceptions. In fact I think exceptions are the norm.

As for hirsuteness, I think Asians are more evolved, higher up the evolution ladder so to speak. We, Asians, are farther apart from our simian cousins than our Caucasoid and Negroid brethrens. But that's my crackpot theory. ;-)

Check out books on physical anthropology. There are some interesting stuff.

Corean-American guy Tuesday, September 04, 2001 at 18:01:43 (PDT)

rico,

it's good that you have traveled abroad and broke some of your stereotypes.

i'm korean, and i know this is going to sound stupid, but generally i do think korean teens are the tallest pacific asians on average.

i'm making very gross generalizations here but from my own experiences, i think japanese and chinese are either HUGE or TINY, but most of the koreans are just average, around 5'8 - 6'.

looking around at my fellow korean teens, I think korean teens rarely fall below 5'8 or grow taller than 6.

but anyways, it's funny that you thought korea was better than japan. i've never heard a foreigner saying korea is such a cool country. i think koreans were being nice to you because they are getting ready for World Cup 2002. :)
jjk Saturday, September 01, 2001 at 20:31:13 (PDT)

Is it true that Asian boys like short girls? I'm 5'2" 1/2. I'm only in High school, but i'm pretty sure that i won't grow much more. I knew this Korean guy who loved short and tiny girls. Why is that? Does it make him feel manlier to be with petite girls.
What's the average height of a Chinese American female?
In my opinion, guys should be at least 5'8".
Also, I've realized that many of my friends are either my height or shorter not because of the whole "genes" issue, but, because of early puberty.
Abc chic Friday, August 31, 2001 at 18:02:24 (PDT)

i am a 18yo male from britain and im just over 6' and i was in japan for a month and korea for 8 days and i was shocked in britain im considered tall i thought asian guys would be real small,but i found most young guys there to be as tall as young europeans, there were even a few as tall as me.in korea they are taller than japan and i even came across guys who were a good inch or 2 taller than me. i think the average height in korea for young people must be about 5'9 which is the same as most europeans.im just depressed im to old to be growing still. i also saw that a lot of japanese guys were kinda hairer than me also. i think a lot of the white and asian stereotypes of each other are not really very true maybe its all the macdonalds i saw there.i also noticed that some of the taller guys were kinda lanky looking as well so i think that maybe europeans dont have a genetic height advantage and maybe its just the diet.
anyway i just wanted to say what i noticed.
and finally i thought korea was the coolest country so diferent from japan.
peace
rico Thursday, August 30, 2001 at 13:29:05 (PDT)

Curious Asian American,

You forget that other northern Asians such as Eskimos, Lapps, and Mongols are not very tall. It is only northern Chinese, Koreans, Manchus and Tibetans who fall into this range.

I still think it is genetic. Koreans and Manchus had much contact with Chinese in the past, while Chinese and Tibetans had contact with West Asians also.

aabb Sunday, August 26, 2001 at 15:23:39 (PDT)

By all means these theories are not scientific, but something I thought about regarding height and body type.

You may notice that Northern Europeans are taller than Southern Europeans and some Northern Asians are taller than Southern Asians. Is there a climatic impact? But, what about West Africans or even East Africans- hot climates and there are some very tall people there?

For Asians- it may be something like this: Southern Asia has hot, humid climates. Resources may be scarce or dense populations. Smaller, shorter bodies are more efficient in this type of environment- they are "compact"- need to consume less to keep going and to keep cool, if you are larger you need to consume more, need more energy to keep cool, etc.

How about hairness? Europeans are hairer- to keep warm? But, what about Middle Easterners- many come from hot, dry climate and are hairer. Is that to protect their skin from hot, dry weather? Maybe? But, in Southern Asia- the climate is humid- could you imagine being hairy in humid climate-all that hair would stick to you. But, there are Northern Asian groups such as Ainus, some Japanese (could have Ainu admixture) are hairy- protection from Siberian cold? Ainus-many came from Siberia before Japan.

What about the nose shape? Europeans have high nose bridges and long noses. I read that this was to help warm the air they breath in since they lived in colder climates. But, what about some Middle Easterners with high nose bridges and long noses who live in hot, dry climates? Is it because it's a dry climate? I don't know.

Then, there are Asians and Africans with shorter noses with large nostrils- you find more in Asians and Africans from hot, humid climate. The noses seem to be narrower, smaller nostrils and longer in Northern Asia (not in everyone, but you will see it- is that for colder climate)? I don't know. These are just my own observations. What are people's thoughts?
Curious Asian-American Saturday, August 25, 2001 at 11:34:59 (PDT)

AF thats tired of nagging,
thats f***ed up for your parents to say that, you have THEIR genes.

my dad is almost 5'10", mom is only 5' and im not even as tall as him. im a little under 5'7". i dont like it but my dad never says anything about my height. maybe hes disappointed on the inside but he never says things like that.
hg Friday, August 24, 2001 at 22:02:11 (PDT)

I've gotta agree with Curious about people back in teh Motherland.

I'm Korean, and most (I'd say over 60%) or 18 to 21 year old guys are 5'9" and above. I'm 5'8", and it pisses me off, since I've spent most of my adolesence on an American diet, and I'm still smaller than my friends who remained in Korea. They are all 5'10". Tall guys (over 6') are still relatively rare in comparison to the number of 6'+ men in the US (although there are noticeably more), but the average height of men in Asia have jumped almost 2 inches, from about 5'7" to 5'9". That's impressive.
Blegh Friday, August 24, 2001 at 12:18:09 (PDT)

During my stay in China from 95 to 98, I actually found the people of Shanghai to be very tall. Young women 5'-10" and taller are not uncommon. Shanghai is a melting pot. That may be the reason
Taiwanese Mainlander Friday, August 24, 2001 at 11:37:06 (PDT)

To AF that's tired of nagging,

Yup, that's parents for you, even though the largest reason for your performance in the height department lies with their genetics. My sisters and I have the opposite problem we're tall (5 foot 8 and just under six feet respectively) and my mom harps on the size of our feet and the fact that our height may be intimidating to the majority of men out there, therefore not finding husbands. Trust me, if they didn't rag on you for this issue, they'll find something else - why can't you be thinner/fatter, smarter, more obedient etc.
Been there Thursday, August 23, 2001 at 21:13:52 (PDT)

Relax:

Actually most people consider me tall. I'm almost 6ft. i've just known so many asian women who'd make fun of guys we know (my friends) that are relatively short, compared to me, but much taller than them. I laughed along with them before; now i'm just trying to understand them. I have no complex about height personally.

To be honest with you. I just want to know why these short girls dig me so much..guess it's not really for me is it?
Curious Thursday, August 23, 2001 at 17:41:24 (PDT)

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