Everywhere you turn, you see the narrative that single women are long-suffering angels whose dating pool is low on men that aren't fat, sloppy, inept deadbeats. It gets repeated so much that I think it's seeping into the minds of more moderate folks. Yet, it can be seen from multiple angles that this narrative is utter nonsense.

First off, there is no statistical evidence I'm aware of that this narrative has any truth to it. Women are more likely to have a college degree, but so what? That's a useless measure of success. Single men (very slightly) outearn single women on average, and that's what ultimately matters. Likewise, there is almost no difference between the sexes in prevalence of overweight/obese BMI, and that even includes men who are overweight due to muscle mass (the jacked middle linebacker for your local football team is probably "obese").

More telling is the way men with their life in order are received in the dating market. If such men were in short supply, they'd be treated like they're in short supply. In reality, their treatment is consistent with being in hefty surplus. Many men, including myself, can attest that having your shit together (fit, well put together, good career, gets out, has his own place) is not sufficient to warm women up to you. Even with all of that, it's still necessary to bring some combination of vibe, confidence, humor, social status, facial aesthetic, and height to generally be taken seriously by ordinary women. That's fine, I'm not here to shame anyone's standards, but at least be honest about it. If you complain that there's a shortage of men who are fit, well put together, successful, confident, funny, popular, hot, tall, vibe well with you, and want to commit to you, you may not garner much sympathy, but at least you won't be lying.

To the women here who do give honest takes, I appreciate your contributions, and this isn't directed at you.