Why do men have bigger feet in contrast to women? Why aren’t their average foot sizes equal?

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Despite the differences between countries, the average foot size for women changes between US women’s 5 to 10 (EU 35 to 42), whereas the one for men changes between US men’s 7 to 10 (EU 40 to 44), except a few ones like [a man from Europe I saw on IG having EU 38 feet which is pretty small for a male and wearing women’s shoes especially the ones with pointy toes and stiletto heels](https://instagram.com/withhighheels?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)

Saw a few men with feet bigger than US 10 too, like Shaquille O’Neal with size 22 and Dwayne Johnson with size 14.

Why is there such a difference?

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25 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because men are taller.

> Why are men taller?

Because [oestrogen makes the bones grow shorter](https://www.quantamagazine.org/males-are-the-taller-sex-estrogen-not-fights-for-mates-may-be-why-20200608/#:~:text=Because%20men%20are%20taller%20than,effect%20that%20nature%20was%20selecting.) than men, including feet bones.

Fun fact: during pregnancy, the woman’s body produces more “*relaxin*”, which [loosens the hips ligament fibres](https://www.verywellfamily.com/do-your-hips-return-to-their-pre-pregnancy-size-after-childbirth-5204988#:~:text=Why%20Your%20Hips%20Expand%20During,a%20baby%2C%20begins%20to%20increase.) to widen the hips in precision of the delivery.

Relaxin also causes the feet to grow by as much as one size.

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