October 25, October 18, October 16, September 27, July 3, October 11, October 10, October 4, September 24, April 25, April 19, January 11, December tall, July 22, May 24, January 25, January 18, September 5, February 2, November 15, August 11, October 23, October 14, September continue reading, June 10, September 23, July 9, June 28, June 21, May 31, December 1, September 1, June 1, March 1, I used to wish Free dating site card were an okapi.

In addition to resembling adorable hybrid giraffe-zebras, female okapis are typically larger and taller than their male counterparts. Our culture suggests men should always be taller than their female counterparts, and heterosexual pairings are usually depicted with a woman standing on tiptoes to kiss her man.

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Some of my average-sized friends have been known to eschew heels for photo ops, just so their male partners would tower over them even more than they already do. In fact, according to U. Census records, less than 0. Statistics are so not on our side. Of course, some very tall women have pretty normal dating lives.

I was not one of them.

Get Started Toward Your Last First Date

In high school, I spent my time writing anonymous love letters girl jocks who hooked up with tall half their size. The men interested in me during my college years were often girl, or saw me as a potential dominatrix—yes, dating as a tall woman also invites the potential for being fetishized. Gracey Pankey, a six-foot-tall lifestyle and fashion blogger at the appropriately named site Fashion for Giants, has a clear preference. I was also unable to stop making jokes about the height difference, like offering to lift them up to see things.

And though I wish I could totally distance myself from this type of sexist and stereotypical thinking, I used to want the same things. There was a time when the only guys I let myself crush over were as tall or taller than I was. Yeah, it was important that they be super smart and hilarious, but it was much more important that they were LeBron-sized.

I pictured us meeting in a quiet library, aimlessly strolling opposite aisles. Our hands would overlap on the topmost shelf reaching for the same novel, and mad, passionate, tall love would ensue. Due to both my size and interests military background, basketball player, self-defense classes I never thought I needed men for physical protection. I did, however, have strict ideas about what dating meant to be feminine. And it was hard to ignore tall when tall women like Julia Child or Janet Reno were impersonated by comedians, they were always played by men.

But as I questioned my reluctance to date down, I saw it was intensely out of step with my beliefs—I was the kind of person who questioned gender roles, but I still believed in the taller-man paradigm. I also found out that men being taller than their lady partners is neither a universal, nor a natural phenomenon.

Taller women in the Mundari tribe of Sudan command steeper dowry prices than their shorter counterparts.

This Is What It’s Like To Date As A 6’3″ Woman

And one British study found that if straight couples were randomly partnered, taller-woman pairings would actually occur much more frequently than they do—7. I learned that my body deserves care and acceptance, no matter how unconventional my height may dating. It took me a long time to get comfortable with my body and evolve my own ideas about being feminine.

It began after graduating military school, when I felt an almost supernatural pull towards all things self-love and feminist. As I read books about how society perpetuates damaging norms for women, I also started working dating a holistic health coach. He has never begged me to wear flats or made Kidman-Cruise jokes, and he likes that he can easily find me in a crowd.

Though this read more also be because I live in N. Who knows? You may find your own okapi, just like I did. Subscribe today! More from BUST. Keep me signed in until I sign out. Forgot your password? Have received a new password? Login here. Home Feminism Feminism. Extreme Weather. Extreme Abortion Rulings October 11, I Am a Breast Cancer Survivor. Fall horoscopes inspired by tarot September 24, Bring boozy fun to your winter bevvies with Eat Me. Holy Cannoli! Winter December 1, Fall September 1, Summer June 1, Spring March 1, Share 0 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email.

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