I read somewhere that the average male in the U.S. is 5-foot-9 and the average female is 5-foot-3. I have no idea whether either of those is accurate.
For the sake of argument, assume that they are correct. How much taller than the average would a male character need to be for you to invoke the description "tall"? Would you call a 5-foot-10 male "tall"? How about a 5-foot-4 female?
How much taller than the average would a male character need to be for you to invoke the description "tall"? Would you call a 5-foot-10 male "tall"? How about a 5-foot-4 female?
I think it's more situational.
Is it in dialog or narrative?
If it's in dialog it should be relative to the height of the speaker rather than some objective average.
If it's in narrative, unless the POV is 3rd person omniscient, it should be relative to the height of the narrator.
As to how much? I'd go with at least +/- 2 or 3 inches before calling someone tall or short.
I might go for the top 10%. In the US adult group 18-64 that's 6ft1" and 5ft 7.5". But in higher income or younger age groups it's higher, for example 18-25 high income men is 6ft3".
But it does depend, as Dominions Son says. If I specifically want a 'Tall' female UK character I'm thinking 5ft9, which is 95th percentile.
The high income group will skew at least a little taller because being taller is linked to higher pay. Because people are ridiculous.
The high income group will skew at least a little taller because being taller is linked to higher pay. Because people are ridiculous.
Because the children of parents in the high income group are generally better fed.
Because the children of parents in the high income group are generally better fed.
They also might in the US have access to a better health care system.
No. People have higher income because they are tall. They aren't tall because their parents had more wealth.
No. People have higher income because they are tall. They aren't tall because their parents had more wealth.
Childhood nutrition affects height. Wealth affects nutrition.
Childhood nutrition does affect height but, so far as I know, there isn't a study on wealth vs height of children.
All of this is off-balance in the US becuase of the overwhelming influx for the last two decades of illegal aliens from countries that have a much lower average height.
Childhood nutrition affects height. Wealth affects nutrition.
However in China the urban rich/rural poor height gap is slowly narrowing. The biggest influence has been better nutrition, in particular the addition of meat to diets.
AJ
I think you might be overgeneralizing the statistic here. I have never seen a study suggesting that height determines pay or that taller people have a higher income.
What is true is that a statistically significant percentage of CEOs and other upper-management positions in Fortune 500 companies are held by males who are at least 6'2" tall.
So yes, there is a statistical relationship between height and certain upper-income jobs, but this does not mean that there is a general tendency for taller people to make more money.
I have never seen a study suggesting that height determines pay or that taller people have a higher income.
A quick search on Google turns up plenty.
What isn't so certain is whether taller people really do have better interpersonal skills or whether it's a case of a short man sitting on the tallest chair.
AJ
Those heights seem low for the current U.S. population.
But tall is relative. A 6 foot point guard in the NBA is short. Just look at him standing next to a 7 foot center.
Would you call a 5-foot-10 male "tall"? How about a 5-foot-4 female?
I wouldn't, because I'm 6'2", and my wife complains about being vertically challenged and she's 5'4".
Tall is a subjective measurement, because the average Icelander by sex is 5'11" and 5'6", while the average Filipino is 5'4" and 5'0". Here in the US, when comparing to most normal men, anyone over 6'1" is tall, with those guys over 6'6" being really tall. A women over 5'8"- without heels - is typically considered tall.
HEIGHT is the objective measurement.
Oh, and Guatemalans are 5'3" and 4'10" for average.
Oh, and Guatemalans are 5'3" and 4'10" for average.
Alternatively:
The average Guatemalan man is 163.40cm (5 feet 4.33 inches) tall.
The average Guatemalan woman is 149.38cm (4 feet 10.81cm) tall.
(I guess they meant inches rather than cm).
Source
AJ
This is also calendar related.
When I was in high school, coach wanted me to play basketball, 'cause I was one of the tallest kids in the school, at just over 6 ft.
Now, many years later, they probably wouldn't even want someone that "short" to try out. Plenty of much taller kids available.
As has been pointed out, it's population dependant. I'd go for '+1 standard deviation' of whichever population is being considered for 'tall', +2 for 'very tall', etc. That way you get a consistent relative interpretation of 'tall' regardless of if we are talking about NBL players or the Aka people.
The heights of adult men in the United States are approximately normally distributed with a mean of 70 inches and a standard deviation of 3 inches. Heights of adult women are approximately normally distributed with a mean of 64.5 inches and a standard deviation of 2.5 inches.
For the sake of argument, assume that they are correct. How much taller than the average would a male character need to be for you to invoke the description "tall"? Would you call a 5-foot-10 male "tall"? How about a 5-foot-4 female?
It can also depend on the story and narration.
I actually played with that very concept in one story, where the main character changed bodies. And as one of them was around 6'7", that character saw a gal as being "short". But in their other form they were 5'3", and saw the same female at around 5'6" as "tall".
So it could also simply be the subjective view of the narrator if the story is in the first person.
So it could also simply be the subjective view of the narrator if the story is in the first person.
Or the POV character in a 3rd-person limited story.
It's all relative. Tall is someone who is taller than the typical person around them.
If you're in the Inca Valley of the Peruvian Highlands that will be about one to two feet less height needed to qualify for tall than if you're in New York City. But the person who is tall in New York City might feel short if visiting South Sudan.
I suspect none of those examples would happen in most people's stories here because I'm fishing for extremes. But it still is relative to your social circles.
I don't like to list out a specific number because it can lead me to a situation where I risk doing incorrect research. So if I want to say someone is tall or short, I'll just leave it there or describe them in relation to another character or object in the scene.