Seasonal hashtags come and go. The summer of 2019 — better known as #HotGirlSummer — soon gave way to #SadGirlAutumn, which somehow birthed #smallpenisfall (luckily that one didn’t last long) and led to the damp squib that was #HotVaxSummer. But now the crocuses are in bloom and we are entering #ShortKingSpring. For ‘tis the season we give men below 5ft 8in the love they deserve.
TikTok has been flooded with tongue-in-cheek videos from vertically challenged chaps and their girlfriends rejoicing at the breaking of this age-old taboo. The hashtag has rapidly amassed more than 998,000 views, thanks in large part to Zendaya (5ft 10in) and Tom Holland’s (5ft 8in) red carpet debut this awards season. Their height difference has sparked much commentary and they have been unofficially crowned as the poster couple behind the short king renaissance.
But the short king movement has been brewing for a while. The term was coined by stand-up Jaboukie Young-White in 2018 when he posted an impassioned ode to all short men, calling them “the enemy of body negativity” and citing Donald Glover, Daniel Kaluuya, top, and Holland, above, as examples. In 2020 an app called Short King Dating launched, with the tagline “f*** tall guys, date a short king”.
Of course, there are many short men who are less than regal (it should be said that Putin is 5ft 7in), but it’s certainly true that sizeism towards men of a lower stature has been around for a long time. On Tinder and Grindr it is common for users to dismiss matches under 6ft and in 2019 Tinder even made an April Fool’s joke announcing a new “height verification” feature that would prevent men from fibbing about their stature. But times they are a-changin’. A new crop of successful, short men are springing up all over the shop, from actors such as Holland to Chancellor Rishi Sunak (5ft 6in) — although his “success” is perhaps up for debate.
But it’s not just in the world of dating where diminutive stature can set men back. A study conducted by St Andrews university found that height is perceived to be directly correlated to masculinity. The same goes for success in the world of business. A survey found that over half of Fortune 500 CEOs are over 6ft, which is almost three inches over the US national average.
But times they are a-changin’, a new crop of successful, short men are springing up all over the shop, from leading men like Holland, who said in an interview that all his female co-stars in Spider-Man were taller than him, to our very own Chancellor Rishi Sunak (5’5), although his “success” is perhaps up for debate. In the same way that the body-positivity movement, for all its shortcomings (no pun intended), has irrevocably changed the gaunt face of female body representation in advertising and media, tired stereotypes like “short man syndrome” and an obsession with male height are rapidly becoming rather passé.
So perhaps it is high time for society to embrace our short kings and to normalise norm-bending height differences between men and women. Dating and relationships coach Kate Mansfield explains that from a biological perspective height is no longer applicable as a marker of desirability. “What shorter men might lack in size, they make up for in success - financial, creative or career related,” she says. “This gives them a higher rank, which is the evolutionary equivalent of the natural selection process that we see on a more primal and physical level historically.”
There you have it, in the words of one TikTok user and self confessed short king, “Sorry to y’all giraffes, times up”.
Five of our favorite short kings
Daniel Radcliffe
The child star’s diminutive 5’5 stature hasn’t stopped him from casting a spell on us all (sorry) over the years. The Harry Potter actor embraces his inner heartthrob in his latest blockbuster, starring alongside Channing Tatum, Brad Pitt and Sandra Bullock in The Lost City. Radcliffe told Magic Radio that he insisted on a glow-up before starring in the film, the 32-year-old actor joked: “I went in and was like ‘guys, I am in a film with Channing Tatum and Brad Pitt, you need to do something about this face and the hair’.” And he looks every inch the short king he was born to be.
Daniel Kaluuya
Another vertically challenged, but no less regal Daniel, at 5 ‘6 Kaluuya falls short of the “ideal” 6’ threshold. But what he lacks in inches the 33-year-old actor makes up for in success and talent. The Londoner won his first Oscar last year for his role in Judas and the Black Messiah and is currently writing his first feature film for Netflix called The Kitchen, reportedly starring rapper and Top Boy star Kano.
James McAvoy
The veteran Scottish actor has graced our screens in everything from the X-Men franchise to Atonement over the years. Measuring up to 5’5 has made no difference to McAvoy’s heartthrob status and critical success. The 42-year-old Glaswegian has just starred in Judd Apatow’s new pandemic-inspired comedy The Bubble, which launched on Netflix this week.
President Volodymyr Zelensky
The Ukrainian president and all-round inspiration may only be 5’5 but his leadership skills are towering. Zelensky, who has been leading the Ukrainian war effort with immense courage and clarity, has proven that height is completely extraneous to personal success.
Tom Holland
Last but certainly not least, we have Spider-Man himself. Not only do we have Holland to thank for this blessed Short King moment, the 5’7 actor has proven that height doesn’t stop you from playing an iconic superhero and bagging yourself a gorgeous girlfriend. As his iconic, morph-suited counterpart would say: “With great power comes great responsibility”, a stark warning to us all if we ever underestimate a short king.
