The Economix blog reports that ‘interracial love’ (interethnic marriages in academic-speak) may be just a height thing. I think there definitely is something in that
Researchers at the Centre for Economic Policy Research noted that “Black men are substantially more likely to have white spouses than Black women, but the opposite is true for Chinese: Chinese men are half less likely to be married to a White person than Chinese women. We argue that differences in height distributions, combined with a simple preference for a taller husband, can explain a large proportion of these ethnic-specific gender asymmetries”
It is indeed unusual for a man to marry a much taller woman, or for a woman to marry a much shorter man
In my youth there was the example of Anne Scott James & Sir Osbert Lancaster, but hardly any others
Until recently there was Bernie Ecclestone
And we have been reminded of it again by the comment on our new Speaker
There were many aspects of the marriage of Charles & Diana which horrified me, not the least of which was that somebody (I have my suspicions who it was, & it was not a male person) had been making a fuss about the fact that she was the taller of the two
I happened to be at home on the day that the engagement was announced, so watched the proceedings live on tv
It was endearing to see the Queen, obviously not wanting to steal the limelight, peeking into the garden from behind the curtains
But when the happy couple appeared I realised what had been going on. There was this embarrassed kerfuffle as they made certain that he stood a couple of steps higher than she
Immediately after the marriage we had the fashion for flat, flat ballet pumps, as worn by our new Princess
Dancing with Wayne Sleep did much to give her the confidence to stand tall (literally)
At least one female columnist interpreted that famous picture of her in killer heels after the announcement that it was all over, as the natural reaction of any woman. Well yes, but especially so if you like wearing heels & have been tut-tutted at for doing so
