Thread by @DrGJackBrown

1/ THREAD: Body Language Analysis No. 4626: Spiderman, Zendaya, Tom Holland, and Height Differential between partners:

#BodyLanguageExpert #BodyLanguage #Zendaya #TomHolland

2/They've been a couple for a while now, but some people are still making a kerfuffle about the height difference between @Zendaya and @TomHolland1996.

3/ The two A-list actors co-star in "Spider-man: No Way Home". Zendaya's height is listed as 180.3 cm (5'11"), (although some report a bit shorter), while Holland's is 172.7 cm (5'8").

4/ While it may, indeed, be ridiculous to make a big deal out of their (or anyone's) height difference — and it would be ideal, if we, across all societies, abandoned this "men must always be taller than their female partners" social norm — this is a long term behavioral pattern.

5/ So *what we want* — is often very different than *what is*. Part of this height differential behavioral practice is a deeply ingrained (for millennia) cultural phenomenon — but part of it is biological (part nurture, part nature).

6/ Unlike Holland, a small percentage of men are confident enough to have taller female partners — and, unlike Zendaya, few women are emotionally comfortable with being the taller person.

7/ Moreover, many taller women have anxieties about making their male partner feel uncomfortable. For this reason, women who would normally wear heels will wear flats if their male partner is shorter or close in height.

8/ Boguslaw Pawlowski, Ph.D., a Polish Anthropologist has determined that there is a golden ratio when it comes to male-female attraction as well as longevity of their relationships.

9/ Specifically, if the man is 1.09 times taller than his mate (9% taller) (equivalent to the woman being 0.917 of the man's height) — this is significantly predictive of the long-term stability of the relationship.

10/ In addition, when other factors were controlled for, men and women were more attracted to the opposite sex, the closer they were to these height ratios.

11/ Perhaps Zendaya and Tom Holland can help to begin to overturn this deep cultural norm and this strong biological drive — or at least, maybe, they can be an exception to the 'rule'.

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