Still, there is more to it - I agree with MOJO, it is not just by happenstance. My mother was slightly taller than my father, and it bothered her. She talked about it a lot. She could not wear high heels. In the late 60s-early 70s, women wore updos that made them look taller - she had a problem with that too, because wearing hair in a way that made her look even taller exacerbated the height difference between her and her husband. Objectively, the difference was small - she was 173 cm and he was probably 171-172 cm, but add heels and an updo, and she was substantially taller than her husband, and did not like it. It is reasonable to assume that many women just do not marry shorter husbands because they want to wear heels .