>>115526062>Why is this such a common trope?Because shortness, especially in relation to a love interest, is commonly portrayed as a cause of feelings of inadequacy. It is considered emasculating for a man to be of lower physical stature or capacity than a woman.
He's quite literally "less of a man". This means it's a cheap and easy way to create a barrier, even if just mental, between a character and his love interest.
Conversely, in the modern west, being tall is broadly considered a desirable female trait for women. Hence why, though beauty models come in a variety of shapes and sizes, tall ones are usually chosen for model characters, and as a whole the field leans toward tall. As such, love interests, which tend to be beautiful in the first place, both for commercial and narrative reasons, tend to fit social norms for beauty, and thereby end up as tall.
This incidentally leads to it actually being less of a trope in cultures where a woman being tall is commonly considered undesirable.
