He wishes this were a tall tale.
A filmmaker from Atlanta, Georgia, is sharing the savage way a woman responded to him on a dating app after he told her his height.
“I noticed that she’s taller than me… I’m a short guy,” Ian, 35, recalled in a trending TikTok tell-all.
The singleton decided to be upfront and messaged: “Hey, you know, you’re stunning. Did you see that I am only 5-foot-6?”
The woman responded that she hadn’t noticed that the details of his height were on his dating profile.
She subsequently added: “Do you care if I’m taller than you or if I ever wear heels on a date?”
Ian, who says he’s “totally comfortable” [with his height] offered the woman a polite escape hatch, responding: “If you want to politely, like, see yourself out now — no harm, no foul. I get it.”
Shortly after, she unmatched.
Ian — who is autistic and prides himself on “transparency, wit and kindness” over pickup lines and “jawline” swagger — told Newsweek he prefers to get “dealbreakers” out of the way early.
“Men’s height gets talked about enough online that I try to get it out of the way immediately if I suspect it might be an issue,” he told the outlet.
TikTok users who heard Ian’s story were divided, with some saying he brought the brutal rejection on himself.
“Listen! You gave her the ick with the ‘If you want to see yourself out now’—I’m telling you! That’s what it was,” one wrote. “It showed you were saying you weren’t worthy.”
Others were shocked that the woman suddenly disappeared.
“Wait why did she unmatch??? Your message back was so lovely and confident,” a confused commenter weighed in.
Another claimed the “short king” also expressed confidence with his reply.
Ian has brushed off the rejection and sums up dating bluntly, telling Newsweek: “I think most people would agree that dating often feels like a self-inflicted humiliation ritual.”
Ian’s experience is far from unique, and it highlights just how much society fixates on height when it comes to dating.
However, short men — affectionately dubbed “short kings” — have been defying stereotypes and finding love with taller partners for years.
From New Yorkers like Cassandra Gaspard, who married her 5-foot-5 husband despite standing 5-foot-10, to celebrities with noticeable height differences such as Zendaya and Tom Holland, these relationships show that confidence, charm, and personality can outweigh mere inches.