Getting lifts won't solve your neurosis. I'm an inch taller than you, 20 years old, and it's not that bad. It's true some people will judge you, but your friends won't. If people do, there are ways you can prove them wrong, but they all require you not to make your height the centre of your life.

A lot of short women really like men about our height. We're tall enough so they can do all the dumb girly shit (like tall enough to put their head on our chest when we hug) but short enough that kissing isn't awkward. Perfect height for many short women 4'11-5'2.

It's funny because I'm bi too and in my experience gay men seem to care much less about height. Maybe that's just been my luck. Keep looking, though- maybe it's just been your luck.

It's below the 5'7"-5'9" range, I think, that things really start getting tougher in dating for short men. You're at a height where a lot of women will reject you but importantly you'll still have more than enough pickings (obviously, as goes for anyone who isn't stupidly hot, if you have a good personality too).

And some women don't give a flying fuck about height. I was so insecure in school that I never noticed some hot girls who were nearly as tall as me or taller than me who were blatantly interested.

These days I feel on the lower end of average, not short really. I used to feel very short (even at 5'8). I had what I think was BDD. As I began to get over these feelings, I started to realise I wasn't as short as I thought I was. I was literally the same height as people who had looked like they were two inches taller when I was in the peak of my body image neurosis! I can't explain how that happened, only that I must have been pretty mentally unwell.

At the end of the day how much height matters for a "below average" rather than a "short" guy is largely what they make of it. People won't notice your (very normal) height much if you don't make a point of it, and if they do they will be less inclined to judge negatively.