Gone are the days of frothing over men who are 6’2 with no personality. It’s 2022 and about time we appreciate the elite group of men that are short kings.
I have always loved short kings, though not specifically and not on purpose. I just love men with confidence and bold personalities in a way that naturally leads me to the short kings of the world, because that is who they are.
But what else constitutes a short king?
As writer Miles Klee so aptly put it in a 2018 article way ahead of its time, a short king “celebrates his height, always wearing it well. He’s never been envious of a six-foot-plus dude’s gawky frame, and he sure as hell doesn’t add inches to his own measurements to impress anyone.
“For him, shortness is not a liability, but an advantage — it’s crisply elegant and efficient.”
Short kings don’t rely on their height for clout unlike the “I’m 6′ because apparently that matters” crowd. Instead, they’re charismatic, suave, fun and down to earth (pun NOT intended).
They are sure of their own worth and confident in their skin — and this confidence without arrogance is magnetic AF, at least for me.
But let us be clear: not every short man is a short king.
https://twitter.com/jaboukie/status/1149053615866167296?s=20&t=JtCVste-Aev-6l95L1KkLQ
If you have tried dating men, you’ve probably at some point come across what I deem the anti-short king: short men who assume that any and all criticism or disinterest in them comes from height prejudice.
It’s these guys that will call you a shallow, discriminative bitch for not wanting a second date when you’re probably saying no because they were dicks.
The concept of the “short king” isn’t new — the way the term is used currently can be traced back to Twitter icon Jaboukie Young-White in 2018. He’s since been a proponent of the short king renaissance and I fully believe it was he who started this wave.
kings under 6ft tall… we are valid. we are strong. we are at lower risk of heart disease. if they can’t appreciate us now, be patient kings. how many tall old men do you know
— jaboukie (@jaboukie) June 3, 2018
But really, Jaboukie was putting a name to a concept we’ve all subconsciously known for some time.
Say what you will about women preferring tall men, but I don’t know a single lass that wouldn’t risk it all for Bruno Mars — a short king who stands at 5’4. That man’s sexual magnetism is astronomical even though his frame isn’t because there’s so much more to chemistry than height.
You may wonder: if this concept is old, why am I talking about it now? The answer is TikTok.
TikTok is seeing a new wave of short king love which became fashionable after that iconic image of Tom Holland (another short king) and Zendaya.
https://twitter.com/fairydreamys/status/1485705876199591938?s=20&t=GHYEpU6HwEK7NwHGoUiWfg
In the image, Zendaya is walking alongside Tom, towering over him with a hand firmly grasped on his waist in a way that indicates sheer sexual domination. Or maybe I’m reading too much into it.
Either way the image seems to have awoken something in women on the internet, who now for the first time are questioning the internalised sexism that has led them to believe being smaller than men is a virtue.
Obviously it’s not. The result of this epiphany has led to women sharing videos of their shorter boyfriends on TikTok with pride and faith in the chemistry and love they share. Not only is it super cute, but the trend also challenges heteronormative, sexist ideas of boyfriend = big, girlfriend = small.
@lillete Short kings matter 🤴🏻
@ajclementine short bf & tall gf is elite 🤝 @ryan.tk #tallgirl #shortking #zendaya #tomdaya #girlslikeus #foryou #fypシ
@risthefish i love him tho #relationship #tallgirl #shortking #UltaSkinTok #DontQuitYourDaydream #fypシ #trend
It’s not all wholesome out there though — this positive trend was also birthed in response to other women pranking their tall boyfriends by calling them “short kings” to see their reactions.
It unearthed a lot of insecurity in tall men who clearly view their height as one of their most important traits. And also, it wasn’t cute to see women further stigmatise being short by using the term as a back-handed compliment.
Writer Laura Pitcher recently published an analysis of this new short king era — which she deemed “short king spring” — in i-D magazine.
In the piece she explored the relationship Asian and trans men have with short king memes, since they are often made to feel insecure in their masculinity.
While some of the men she spoke to said they were optimistic about the trend, others were cynical and felt the term was “sneering”. Until the trend takes off in real life and not just as a virtue-signal online, for some short men it’ll be hard to believe.
It’s true that for some women, loving short kings will be the latest trend to show they’re progressive without any meaningful action.
I, for one, just genuinely love short kings. I have since I loved Josh Hutcherson at the tender age of nine and I will forever.
Welcome to our new short king era. Long may they reign.
