Tom Holland & Zendaya are slamming the boy-girl height issue

Whether the arrival of the next Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: No Way Home, interests you or not, you are unlikely to have been able to avoid the numerous photos on social media and on news sites of the internet’s current favourite couple - Tom Holland and Zendaya.

Not only are they an adorable pair, but they look as sharp as anything when they step out together - or even apart for that matter.

But it is not the almost inevitable sartorial excellence of two attractive young Hollywood stars that I want to talk about. It is how they stand together. You see Zendaya is taller than Tom.

This might not seem noteworthy to many people, but with Zendaya standing 5’10 and her beau at 5’8”, their appearance together seems to have confused some people. Especially once she puts a pair of heels on.

It is weird that in this day and age the idea of a girl being taller than her other half is inconceivable to some people - and speaking as a short guy I can tell it is a trope which gets pretty tiresome.

It’s been a long while since I was anywhere near a dating app, but I certainly came across more than a few profiles which said ‘don’t bother if you’re less than 5’10”!’ It is an idea which we have firmly fixed in our minds and every celebrity couple, from Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman to Jamie Cullum and Sophie Dahl, where the lady is taller than her other half seems to face questions and comments about it. And, of course, they have all found their own solution - from posing seated to the inevitable turn with a bent-knee from the lady. But all of those take away the opportunity for both people in the couple to enjoy looking good and standing together.

And I get it; my wonderful better half is taller than me and we were out dancing a while back and a group of lads found the image of us together so hilarious that they all started dancing while crouched down in response. It was very clever.

But what I love about Tom and Zendaya’s approach to this is that they are refusing to make a thing of it. As they mentioned on an appearance on SiriusXM, they consider the idea that men should be taller than women to be a “stupid assumption”.

Personally, I’m (obviously) a big fan of this view. I’m aware that it is easy for me to ignore my other half being taller than me; I’ve always been short, but it’s weird that girls should feel they can’t stand up and enjoy how awesome they look just because people are surprised they are taller than their other half.

So props to Tom and Zendaya for enjoying how excellent they look as a pair.

And to you short guys, if you want a stop-gap tip while the world catches up: Follow Tom’s lead and let the lady take the spotlight while you pose just off her shoulder. Trust me.

For style tips for the smaller guy, follow Short Man Style on Instagram and keep an eye on our dedicated Short Man Style website.