Sexual Dimorphism is Due to Estrogen
Not a history of dominance and competition
Many animals, including primates, have varying levels of sexual dimorphism, physical characteristics that are different between males and females that are not related to reproduction. One of the most noticeable tends to be size. For example, gorilla males are roughly twice as large as females — although female stingrays are typically a little bit larger up to three times as large as males. Human males tend to be bigger and have greater upper body strength than females, with a rate of dimorphism closer to 15%. However, around 10% of females are taller than the average male, and there are some females who are stronger than the average man as well.
A lot of things play into height, including genes and consistent access to good nutrition. “The average young adult today is around 8 or 9 cm, or about 5%, taller than their ancestors 100 years ago. Some countries saw very different changes for men and women. In South Korea, for example, mean height for women increased by 14% versus 9% for men. In the Philippines the opposite was true: male height increased by around 5% versus only 1% for women.” (source)
It’s been hypothesized that in general men tend to be taller than women because that serves an evolutionary purpose, particularly as relates to mate competition…
