There is no question double standards exist in life for men and women. They are at home, in the workplace, and even at Target. This is particularly true when it comes to physical appearance. Why is a man seen as distinguished when he grows older, but a woman who shows a few grays or crow's feet has supposedly 'let herself go?' It's a bunch of nonsense, and it's time to talk about it.
TikToker Zoe Tyler, aka @thezolyspirit, is going viral for her take on yet another inequity between men and women, and it'll probably get you thinking. Does it really matter how tall your man is or how much your girlfriend weighs? According to Tyler, some people think it does, and she says it's primarily men. This is some thought-provoking stuff.
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Tyler begins with an interesting argument.
In her TikTok, she says she caught a video lately that got her thinking. The argument went something like this, "How come when a girl says that she would rather date a tall guy, it's fine? But when a guy says he doesn't want to date a fat chick, it's a problem."
Sadly, we've heard the same stuff, and it's pretty disheartening. Tyler wants to drive home the point that height and weight don't matter and that people can be — and are — attracted to all different body types.
'I made a PowerPoint.'
Nope, she is not letting this one go without a fight. She claims that the national average height for men is 5'9 1/2", and she presents slides of images of men who fall under that threshold who are pretty darn good-looking.
Tyler says many women agree. She starts with actor Cillian Murphy, who she says is 5'7". "Every day of the week and twice on Sunday," she muses.
And then we see slides with men such as Dave Franco, Daniel Radcliff, and James McAvoy — all of whom are shorter than the national average but still hot.
Guess what? This is nothing new.
Women have been attracted to men of shorter stature for years. Tyler shows us a photo of Billy Crystal, and we were totally thrown back to those When Harry Met Sally days. And remember Emilio Estevez? We fell in love with Andrew Clark in The Breakfast Club. And who could resist the lovable Gordon Bombay in The Mighty Ducks franchise?
And please, don't get us millennial moms talking about Michael J. Fox or Tom Cruise. They're also below average heights, and our hearts are still going pitter-patter.
TikTokers agree. "Michael.J.Fox is the shortest of that lot, and as an 80's kid I can tell you, women were absolutely FERAL for him " one comment on Tyler's video reads.
It's not just us regular girls. Celebs dig shorter guys as well.
Tyler talks about Spider-Man star Tom Holland, who is 5'8", and all of the Jonas Brothers, the uber-popular boy band from the early 2000s, and claims that "Not a one of the Jonas Brothers scrapes the bottom of 5'10."
But guess what? Those smaller guys have taller wives who love them just the same. Joe Jonas' wife Sophie Turner is taller than he is, and Tom Holland's girlfriend, Zendaya, towers over him. Yet Tyler says the general consensus is they are "it couples" who people want to be like and follow pretty closely on social media, despite their differences in size.
Even so, Tyler says the same is not true for men with heavier wives. Sadly, she's probably not far off.
Tyler asserts that if a male Hollywood star is in a relationship with a heavier woman, they will be criticized. Pierce Brosnan and Keely Shaye Smith have been together for more than 20 years, and he has had to defend that his wife has gained weight during the marriage, Tyler explains. That's a reality for many women whose partners are still in love, no matter what their bodies may look like now.
Um, yeah, raises hand.
Tyler said that although she researched the couple, she found posts sharing things like, "His wife is so fat. Why doesn't he leave her?"
Gross.
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But what about celebrity women?
You know, those women who are about the national average of a size 16/18? Tyler says she can't make the same slideshow. She says she wants someone to develop a slideshow of above-average size leading ladies with the star power of their counterparts like Cruise and Holland. In her opinion, it doesn't exist.
"We don't demonize and dehumanize and criticize short men in the same way we do women who are not a size four," she says.
Women agree. The comment section was full of support for Tyler.
"And not even women above the national average dress size but even above a d— size 8 women get fat shamed! Insanity!" a woman wrote.
"LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK," another TikToker commented.
Even ladies who have dated tall guys are still attracted to men who are shorter. "In college, while dating a guy who was a buff 6'3, I secretly thirsted after James McAvoy. Google Atonement. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ " one person wrote.
And the love for Brosnan abounded.
"Have you seen footage of Brosnan talking about or interacting with his wife? He loves her so much it just oozes out of him. So dang cute!" someone wrote.
"Pierce Brosnans defense of his wife means so much. He shouldn't have to but he does. He still looks at her like she's everything to him," another fan commented.
Hopefully one day this will change and people truly will be accepting of others just the way they are and not be afraid to show it. Unfortunately, we're probably not going to be there any time soon.
