How Tall are You?

Another aspect of the eternal struggle between the sexes, from the often frankly entirely-invented-by-the-journalist London Journal of 1904:

A SHOEMAKER'S OPINION OF HIGH AND LOW HEELS

"Put half an inch extra on the heel," accompanied an order to a shoemaker from a gentleman customer. "Ah," remarked the shoemaker, "there are so many tall girls nowadays that the average height of men must be raised. Up to a few years ago the lowest heel was the rage, but now the heel is decidedly higher-  I figure it between half and three-quarters of an inch. It is all the growth of recent years. It isn't fashion, either, for you'll not find the high heel among tall men. It's only among the little fellows who try to add to their height by ever so little. But even half an inch counts in a man's height. A few years ago a man of 5ft. 6in. was seldom overtopped by a lady. Now the man of 5ft. 8in. is not infrequently looked down on.
    "Per contra," continued the philosophical shoemaker, "we have lady customers now to whom we cater with low heels. The tall girl differs from a man in not being proud of her height. She knows a little girl is more likely to be esteemed affectionate and loving by the man than is a tall girl. So she tries to get down to the loving level.
    "Then again, they know that the little girls have more chances of securing beaux, for the tall girl must restrict her hopes to the average size or tall men. Short men do not like to go out with girls several inches taller, and so fall back on the petite. So, where men are having their heels made extra high, girls and women are having theirs lowered. Hence also the flat hat."