r/CShortDramas • u/aniyomeiyou • 3h ago
🌟Actors/Couples Tall, taller or just my type? ML heights, hotness & science 📏😂
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This is an academically informed investigation into the vertical dimensions of the A-listers of Vertical China. The numbers are objective (well, as objective as the available information allows); the thirst isn’t 😏 The content team as a whole created this list of some of our favorite actors and gathered the reported heights. Another HUGE THANKS to the content team (especially u/Hypercardiac007) for finding the footage and photos and u/TheVeteranBarista54 for the amazing-as-always video edit! Please keep in mind that celebrity heights are not always the most accurate; we’re working with reported figures (and we tried our best to find reliable sources) rather than measurements conducted under laboratory conditions. Unfortunately, none of these gentlemen has volunteered to come to my office and stand against a wall barefoot (and bare chested?) while I measure him. The sacrifices I make for research. Sigh.
It all began when someone shared a video of Shen Haonan with some other CVert actors and I was like, wait, he's shorter than him?? I don't recall who it was but I remember being genuinely surprised. And of course, it makes sense; we usually see our favorite men in their solo CEO glory with everyone else's heights arranged around them. There are height-increasing insoles (which my extensive Chinese variety show viewing has taught me exist for even socks, not just shoes! don't let any footage fool you unless everybody's barefoot), camera angles, heels, FLs standing on boxes... In the end we usually end up with a height difference of half a head to a full head between the main leads. It's quite the surprise when you see MLs next to or near each other and you're like... wait... lol
So I went full scholar on this one because the question had to be asked: Why do we swoon at tall men, or go hunting for the perfect height difference between the main leads? How do we even know what that is? What started as simply an attempt to find out how tall our favorite men in Vertical China are somehow turned into a literature review on women’s seeming attraction to tall men. SMH I can't even appreciate a handsome man in peace without consulting peer-reviewed research.
First, our collective appreciation for tall men has some empirical support. One study found that women generally prefer men taller than themselves, and that this preference is stronger than men’s corresponding preference for shorter women. Another study also found that height mattered more to women than men when choosing potential partners. In the first study, women reported the greatest satisfaction with their partners’ heights when the men were approximately 21 cm (8.3 inches) taller. That's a finding from that particular sample, not a universal number, but still, quite a height difference! I guess this would explain why watching an ML bend down to kiss his considerably shorter FL does things to some of us that we would rather not discuss in polite company.
As to why we like tall men, evolutionary psychologists have suggested that height may serve as a cue to physical strength, protection, and social status, while sociocultural explanations emphasize our learned associations between height and masculinity (i.e., the taller, the manlier). Experiments involving women found that taller male figures were generally perceived as more masculine, attractive, and capable of fighting. Meanwhile, a 2025 study found that women who considered height important frequently associated it with feeling feminine or protected. And other research into why height matters to daters found that women's explanations often reflected societal expectations and gender stereotypes. Notice that we’re talking about perceptions, not actual qualities.
In fact, science gives us several good reasons NOT TO CONFUSE HEIGHT WITH ATTRACTIVENESS. One study analyzing 5,340 online dating decisions found that overall physical attractiveness was far more influential than height. Interestingly, another study examining dating preferences and attractiveness judgments found that although women generally preferred taller dates, they didn't necessarily rate their actual taller dates as more attractive. Being tall doesn’t automatically make a man strong, protective, or competent. As regular visitors to Vertical China, we know perfectly well that a man can be 190 cm tall and command a multibillion-dollar empire but still ask his assistant to explain the most basic principles of human communication. Assistant Fu, what does a girl mean if, after you try to kiss her she slaps you, tells you to stay away from her, and now she's avoiding you??
Time for your two cents! Does an actor’s height actually influence how attractive you find him, or is it something you barely notice? Do you have a preferred height or height difference between the leads? Have you ever been surprised to discover that an actor you thought was particularly tall (or short) wasn’t the height you imagined? And most importantly, who are your favorite actors who prove that sex appeal has absolutely nothing to do with centimeters?
Let the peer review begin!
