The short aesthetic is not that bad. It's natural. You put 5'6 next to 6' and the difference is so minimal, like the length of a cellphone. It's not like obesity which literally kills you. Yet somehow it's always compared to obesity...

The problem is ego. Height is seen as status. Something to brag about to your friends. You think you're the main character in the movie who deserves 6'. It has nothing to do with protection because we live in this thing called civilization.