It’s confirmed now. The fair sex does have a penchant for taller men — and it’s not for their height but “as they are better at fighting”, say researchers.
A new 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, says lead author 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.”
Earlier studies suggested that women prefer tall men because their height indicates they have “good genes”. But, Dr Carrier 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. But they’re not. Men are attracted to women of average height or even shorter, the Daily Mail quoted him.
In their study, the researchers of Utah University 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. Dr Carrier said: “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.