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Why do women prefer taller men?
Women prefer taller men because they are
better at fighting, scientists claimed yesterday.
A study has shown men hit hardest when striking downwards and the blows of a
taller man are more powerful than the thumps of a short man.
In evolutionary terms, that makes them more useful for women, said researcher Dr
David Carrier.
He added: ‘From the perspective of sexual selection theory, women are attracted
to powerful males, not because powerful males can beat them up, but because
powerful males can protect them and their children from other males.’
The scientists found that our prehistoric ancestors punched hardest when they
stood on two legs – suggesting that fighting was the driving force behind the
evolution of upright walking.
‘The results of this study are consistent with the hypothesis that our ancestors
adopted bipedal posture so that males would be better at beating and killing
each other when competing for females,’ said Dr Carrier.
‘Standing up on their hind legs allowed our ancestors to fight with the strength
of their forelimbs, making punching much more dangerous.
'It also provides a functional explanation for why women find tall men
attractive.
‘Early in human evolution, an enhanced capacity to strike downward on an
opponent may have given tall males a greater capacity to compete for mates and
to defend their resources and offspring.
'If this were true, females who chose to mate with tall males would have had
greater fitness for survival.’
Women find taller men attractive because they pack a more powerful punch, making
them more effective fighters, according to researchers
Dr Carrier studied the power of punches by male martial arts experts and boxers
as they struck out in four directions – upwards, down, sideways and forwards.
Men hit with more force when they were standing – and could punch twice as hard
when they were striking downwards, he reports in the journal PLoS One.
Some scientists have argued that women prefer tall men because their height
indicates they have ‘good genes’.
However, Dr Carrier, of Utah University, disagrees. ‘If that were the whole
story, I would expect the same to be true for men – that men would be attracted
to tall women,’ he said.
‘But they’re not. Men are attracted to women of average height or even shorter |
