The Mercury News

Post claims short men have more sex

- By Martha Ross mross@ bayareanew­sgroup.com

Tom Holland sent his fans into a tizzy this weekend by liking a particular Instagram post that referred to a scientific study that basically said that short men have more sex than tall men.

Holland’s reported approval of the post, from the entertainm­ent site LADbible, comes as he and Zendaya, his girlfriend and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” co-star, have been laughing off questions about whether their height difference affects their relationsh­ip. Holland, at 5 feet, 8 inches, called such a question a “stupid assumption,” while 5-foot-10-inch Zendaya said it’s normal for her to see tall women dating short men.

“My mom is taller than my dad. My mom’s taller than everyone,” the Oakland native said during an event to promote “Spider-Man.”

It’s certainly not unusual in Hollywood for shorter male stars to gravitate toward taller women, or for those men to exemplify an ideal of male virility and to defy the idea that height in men is necessaril­y associated with sexual desirabili­ty.

Megastar Tom Cruise, allegedly 5 feet, 7 inches, was famously married to Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes, who stand 5-feet-11 and 5-feet-9, respective­ly.

Hollywood’s more than 100-year history is replete with examples of other “short” male stars who also have been considered “hot” or who enjoyed time as romantic leading men, going way back to Rudolph Valentino or to the relatively more recent Humphrey Bogart.

Both Valentino and Bogart, like Holland, also stood 5 feet, 8 inches, while Bogart’s wife, Lauren Bacall, was 5 feet, 9 inches. Of course, the movies have always done their best to make these height-challenged men look tall enough on screen, usually taller than their leading ladies, but there is no hiding their height on the red carpet or during other personal appearance­s.

LADBible started the talk about short men’s sex life, with an Instagram post showing a photo of Arnold Schwarzene­gger (6-foot-2) and Danny DeVito (4-foot10) from their 1998 movie “Twins.” The Sun reported that Holland, 25, liked the post, whose caption read: “According to The Journal of Sexual Medicine, shorter men are more sexually active than taller men — who would have thought ay?”

 ?? EMMA MCINTYRE — GETTY IMAGES ?? Tom Holland and Zendaya attend the Los Angeles premiere of Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man: No Way Home” on Dec. 13.
EMMA MCINTYRE — GETTY IMAGES Tom Holland and Zendaya attend the Los Angeles premiere of Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man: No Way Home” on Dec. 13.

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