What’s the Price of Desirability?

I remember flying to London last summer via Turkey. The airport was eerily quiet, bathed in the soft glow of a pink-hued sunset. Just as I boarded my flight, I noticed something peculiar: a sea of needle-bruised heads filled the cabin. It wasn’t a one-off. A dozen or so men, fresh off the operating table, were heading back home—bandaged, swollen, identical.

A few days before my trip, I’d laughed at a viral meme: a plane full of men with gauze-wrapped heads flying somewhere west of Europe. It had seemed exaggerated, until that flight. Then it wasn’t so funny anymore.

That memory resurfaced recently when I came across a story about the booming medical tourism industry in Turkey. Only this time, the pain had migrated, from heads to legs.

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You'd think it’s a ripple effect from Celine Song’s Materialist, or maybe it's just the latest in a long line of impossible beauty ideals. Not exactly. But either way, there’s a growing number of men who want to be taller. And they’re willing to endure a medieval-sounding procedure to do it.

To the casual observer, leg lengthening looks like something straight out of a torture chamber. The process begins with surgery to break the femurs, insert metal rods, and attach external fixators. Over the next few months, patients manually “stretch” their bones using a key-like tool, turning it gradually to increase height millimeter by millimeter. Some go further, opting to break the tibia as well.

If that already sounds excruciating, the real agony comes during recovery. Tucked away in the outskirts of Istanbul, in a hotel that looks more like a stage set, plasterboard walls, gold-accented decor, about 20 men at any given time are recovering from this surgery.

They spend their days stretching muscles and tendons to accommodate their lengthened bones. There’s daily physiotherapy, blood thinners, massage sessions, and a steady diet of painkillers. Learning to walk again becomes part of the price.

There’s little reliable global data on the number of men opting for the procedure, but one Indian market research firm estimates the limb-lengthening industry will reach a staggering $8.6 billion by 2030. According to a recent news report, "the risks come from patients not adhering to a strict aftercare routine, but problems and even deaths do occur.

Blood clots, joint issues, failure to grow new bone tissue, blood vessel injuries, scarring and chronic pain are all potential complications, as well as “ballerina syndrome”, where the achilles tendons fail to stretch adequately, forcing the feet into an exaggerated arch and preventing the patient from walking."

The origin of this bone-altering procedure dates back to 1951, when Soviet surgeon Gavriil Abramovich Ilizarov developed a technique that involved placing external metal rings around a fractured bone to stabilise it. The idea: slowly separating the bone ends would allow new tissue to form and fill the gap, effectively lengthening the limb. Known as the Ilizarov technique, it's now used globally.

But why would men pay such a steep physical and financial price just to be a few inches taller? Does height really matter that much for Indian men?

Curious, I asked some of my guy friends. The responses were telling. Height, it turns out, is a delicate subject deeply tied to masculinity, self-worth, and desirability. Some laughed nervously. Others went quiet. One warned me not to joke about it; it’s a sore spot for many.

"Never felt height was a factor for confidence, but it becomes a filter for others to find you desirable. People don’t give a person with height range below/above their desirable range scale the benefit of the doubt or the chance to portray their character," a 25-year old friend who is 5'4 told me.

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Another said he used to wear shoes that gave me a little more inches, "There’s this unspoken rule that being tall equals being masculine. I don’t agree with it, but I’ve internalised it. I definitely feel more self-conscious in social settings, especially around taller guys. I used to wear boots to get some lift. But I'm growing out of it, though I still wear it sometimes.”

Surprisingly, a 27-year-old 5'7 tall friend I spoke with, who wouldn't be considered short, told me, "Personally, I feel height is not the primary factor here."

But he confessed: “ Until I was 18-19, I thought height was the main concern, but as time passed by, I realised that personality is what matters the most. Once you have a great personality with all the good qualities (leader qualities) and you can stand out of the crowd, no one cares about the height.

But I've seen a couple of guys struggling when it comes to dating/marriage because of they are short heighted. But somewhere, they also lack personality, maybe because of inferior complexity. I've also seen many immature females who just want height regardless of how short they themselves are, even though the tall guys doesn't have a good background or even not settled down in life. But later on, they regret their decision."

While another acquaintance aged 24 and 5'6 tall also said, "height matters to me because I think it's directly related to strength, looks, and confidence. A man should be strong and confident, and height can add to that image."

To many, height isn't just a number; it's still a loaded symbol. One that has shaped how men see themselves, and how they're seen by others and even feel powerful.

Would you ever consider leg lengthening?

The reactions ranged from awkward chuckles to dead silence to not knowing anything about the procedure. And perhaps that says it all.

"I wouldn't judge anyone if someone wants to undergo this surgery - maybe they have been bullied/ rejected because of height. Maybe the person is not that confident enough. If there are no complications and not that expensive, then I wouldn't really care if anyone is doing it. I believe, going for height enhancement is purely based on deep psychological and cultural pressure," one put it plainly.

"Height enhancement is a chance to avoid public dialogue and chatter about their bodies, conforming to the society’s unjust favourability of tall people. A taller male is known to have more takers and it makes you sell yourself in the intense dating battle with an advantage. [However] Confidence acquired by an expensive surgery, aimed to fix a perceived body imperfection is temporary and rarely helpful in building valuable character traits," another admitted.

"I'd never consider surgery; it's too much risk and could lead to permanent disability," someone added.