"I'm a feminist, but as women we don't always help our cause – especially when it comes to the realm of romance and relationships," said Helen Coffey in The Independent.
Scratch beneath the surface and our "blatant" heightism has always been a problem. Now, though, Tinder's trial of a new feature that allows paying members to screen potential matches based on "how tall they are" has brought the debate "kicking and screaming back into the light".
'What matters most'
As part of the trial, users who subscribe to Tinder Platinum can sort potential matches depending on a list of options including height, minimum number of photos and whether or not they have a bio. "Technically, these are 'preferences', rather than outright filters", said Shivali Best on the Mail Online. While potential matches won't be ruled out altogether based on their height, preferences will influence the recommendations made by the app.
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Tinder's vice president says the platform is "always listening to what matters most" to users, and it seems height really does matter to "many singles on the digital prowl", said Scottie Andrew on CNN.
Research has shown that men prefer to date shorter women, while heterosexual women tend to seek out taller men. But Liesel Sharabi, an associate professor at Arizona State University who studies the impact of online dating on modern love, points out that by enabling its users to filter by height, Tinder is "telling you what you should be prioritising". And the narrower your idea of a "perfect match" becomes, the harder it is to forge real-life connections, she told the broadcaster.
Tinder is hardly "breaking new ground" here, said Maia Davies on the BBC. Other apps such as Hinge have allowed users to filter matches according to their height, education level, religion and whether a potential match takes drugs, while paying Grindr members can filter by body type. But as Tinder is the planet's biggest dating app, the trial is "significant".
Following the "life-affirming 'Short King' Spring of 2022, I genuinely thought we'd reached a place where women weren't going to be quite so shallow about height any more", said Coffey in The Independent. However, this "golden era was short-lived (pardon the pun)" and last year saw the arrival of the viral "man in finance, 6'5", blue eyes" TikTok that sparked thousands of memes.
'Undersized halflings'
Any man who has used a dating app will know that "most of us are only there to make up the numbers", said Simon Bourke in the Irish Independent. In the online "world of swiping", only the most "attractive" and "determined" men will succeed. And now, women will be able to "eliminate all those undersized halflings", leaving just the men who meet the "universally accepted 'sexy height' of six foot". Because, if you're a man, you'll know that, for many women, meeting this criteria is non-negotiable. "Those are the rules of engagement. Nobody said it was fair."
Of course, the new filter has sparked outrage in the "short king community", with some "haughtily requesting a weight filter to even the score". Unfortunately this is the "default response" for a group of men who choose to feel "attacked" and lash out at what they perceive as yet another barrier to finding love.
Dating apps certainly "incentivise pickiness", said Andrew on CNN. "But singles who want to improve their chances of finding someone kind, who makes them laugh and shares their interests, might consider putting a little less emphasis on how tall that person is". For Natasha Burns, who is six inches taller than her husband, who she met on Tinder, it's possible that if they had been able to use the new height filter, the pair "would have written each other off based on measurements alone".
"I've never been afraid to date a short guy", agreed Elle Hunt in Vogue. While you can't blame people for making use of the technology available to find a potential partner, the rigid criteria risks "ruling out people who would actually make us happy".
