Interested to see, if this trend continues, if heterosexual women will adapt to desire men with less financial success than them.
From my personal perspective, it is sheer silliness, especially on the part of (a good number of) men. While I don’t agree with it, I can see why someone would be hesitant to date someone earning less than them. But I am struggling to see that many tangible downsides of dating someone earning more than you do.
There are, of course, some potential downsides in every situation. But given that men (in general) seem to have no personal qualms about dating women earning less than them, i fail to see why a good number of them would be so vocally opposed to the inverse of it.
Once upon a time if you were not an attractive woman, you could still be a very appealing match if you learned to be a great cook & were great with kids. Now, if you aren't gorgeous, a winning personality is the only play you have left. There might be a really interesting discussion there. Perhaps reduced role of homemaking has increased the pressure of beauty standards on women...
Age preference could shift- e.g. even if 25 year old men are less successful than 25 year old women, 30 year old men might still be doing better. This affords men extra time to take high risk high reward financial strategies & mature.
Continuing on the theme of risk, it could drive men further down the path of risk & split outcomes (men are over represented in boardrooms and in prisons). That could be socially destabilizing, with an increase in men on the bottom.
Or, preferences could transition to prioritize other things. Who cares if he is broke, look at those muscles!
The second order impacts are the crazy part to think about. If responsibility, providing, and stability become feminine traits, then do men culturally assume current feminine traits, like “free spirit” and “experimental”?
I really don't understand this, it feels like it's matter of culture. Success is subjective. I still wonder how success is defined in those studies. I have a difficult time believing that women really prefer men with higher social status, it seems like a bad meme. And if it's true, it would be interesting to hear what feminist think about this, because that would explain why men still seek social status in the first place.
Does wikipedia quote this?
Any other serious source?
But once women gain social status, I don't see why they would still desire men with higher status.
If most women still do desire men with higher status, it means most women have integrated patriarchal values, which is something feminists should really talk about.