most women don't have a 'hoe phase', but it takes just each generation of them having a on-and-off with 'that guy' who usually has several of them on rotation

Youth culture with its emphasis on 'casual dating' will make women rationalize being in a literal 'soft harem' as 'seeing someone' but that it is 'nothing serious' at that point. For her this means way she gets to try out 'the field' without committing herself to anyone yet under the guise of trying to find 'the one' , of course young women wanting a good time will aim for most attractive boy which for him this means he will have several women on rotation:

  1. one woman is contend with casual,
  2. the other agreees to a fwb in hopes for more
  3. the third hopes she will lock him down eventually

this way she is now competing with 2-3 other women as a 'concubine'. This also explains the singleness among 63% of young men who have such long dry spells.