Why are there more women of average height than men?

[Anonymous]

The average height for men is around 6’ but rarely do I see these men but the average height for women is around 5’6 and I see lots more women of average height than I do men of average height

[MCheetah]

Your post has so many flaws in it, I don't know where to begin.

"Average" is a term a lot of people seem to get wrong. It doesn't mean anything or have any positive value to it. All it is, is the number of people who are the most of something (Mode) or the middle number between the highest and lowest values (Median). But it has no actual value to it, at all.

In the United States, the average man is 5'9.5" (176 cm) if they're old, 40+, and 5'10" (178 cm) if they're under the age of 40. However, speaking in my subjective opinion, both of those heights are really short to me, because I go by the Optimal Male Height human men are supposed to be, which is 6'0.5" (184 cm.) Anything less than 183 cm is short on a man, to me. Which is why "average" is not synonymous for "acceptable, or good enough." Most "average" things are garbage and hold no value whatsoever, in my opinion as well.

The average American woman is 5'3.5" (161 cm) if 40 and older, and 5'5" (165 cm) if under 40, and those are both extremely short for women to me, as well, with the female optimal, or "best" height for human women being 5'7"/170 cm.

And ethnicity also plays a big part in height too, as white and black men are two inches taller than Hispanic men and three inches taller than Asian men. So that also plays a role when you say "average." And then, the socially accepted height, also plays a role, as society sees short men as a huge negative, and in some rare cases, tall women as a negative, too.

So that plays a role in whether you are talking about the median for all people of one gender in your country, the median for just people under 40, the median for just one ethnicity of people, or the social median.

Six feet tall is the social median Western men are expected to be the bare minimum of. As in, anything less than six feet is unacceptable (too short) for Western men in the early 21st century. 5'6" isn't any average at all, basically. In The Netherlands, the average height for men is 6'0.5" (184 cm), and for women is 5'6.5" (169 cm), but they use Metric and centimeters/meters anyway, and not feet-and-inches like they do in North America and the UK.

So you're either Dutch and getting the numbers wrong and using Imperial for some reason, or you're just going by your personal standards of what "average" is.

Where I'm from, these were close to the social standards expected to not be too short, except for women, the bare minimum to have a good height is 5'7"/170 cm, while six feet is still the minimum passing grade for men.

As I said, "average" is worth no respect and is extremely negative, in my own opinion, so I wouldn't ever use it for anything, anyway.

TL;DR VERSION:
I don't think these numbers are anyone else's "average" heights but your own.

[Summeroflove]

I really have no idea. People come in all kinds of shapes and sizes

[LazerBean]

Iin the US, the average height for men is 5'10" and for women in 5'4". As far as I've seen that's pretty consistent.

[MCheetah]

5'9.5" for all men, and 5'10" for men under 35-40.
5'3.5" for all women, and 5'5" for women under 35-40.
The average United States male and female height as of 2022.
Not that "average" is socially acceptable, good enough, or a "positive," anyway.

[LazerBean]

It's completely socially acceptable lol

[NamerOfStars]

Because outside of the Netherlands and MAYBE Sweden, the average man's height is below six feet. Here in the US, it's 5'9". In Liberia, it's about 5'3", and Myanmar's about the same. You're working with inaccurate data.

[abc3643]

That's because you are wrong.
The average height for men is NOT around 6 feet.
In the USA, it's more like 5-foot-10-inches.

[NathanDavis]

there's a difference between mean, media and mode...

is not just average

[RealMarek]

The average height for American men is 5’9.3”. Only 20% of men are taller than 6’.

[chilldude33]

6 feet is taller than 86% of men

paging height-graph-enthusiast-guy @MCheetah

[MCheetah]

Well, 80%, really. 6'1"/185 cm is 88th percentile.
But okay, I'll take the bait and answer.