This Atlantic article was about a study done on online dating and was quite interesting. They found a strong negative correlation between a woman's age and her desirability (aka The Wall) while they showed a man's consistently improving desirability until his 50's. With the graph they provided, they truly solidified the concept of The Wall, at least in the context of online dating.

However, there were a few other points that either challenged or opened up a broader discussion about other aspects of RP theory. I'd love to hear your opinions on these points! One point they mentioned was that both women and men try to date up. While it's no mystery that the majority of women would be unsatisfied with someone they consider to be below them in terms of desirability, status, money, or whatever other factor, I think it's quite interesting that the study found men also did the same, rather than dating across or down as RP theory would suggest. In fact, it claims that hardly any users contacted anyone that was less desirable than them. Perhaps this implies that while men may not "branch swing" like women, they will still seek to add the most desirable women to their collection of mates. (Side note: Of course, real life and individual relationships aren't this cut and dry. It's just something that may contribute to overall social trends.)

Another point that they mentioned was that a woman's desirability peaks when she obtains her undergraduate degree. I've seen many posts pop up from young women debating whether or not to pursue a bachelor's degree. Often, these RP women are fearful that they might be putting themselves on the wrong track if they are looking to settle down with marriage and a family in the future. I've just as often seen responses to these posts that suggest that educated men prefer someone with college education as well. Hopefully this gives these ladies a bit of insight: high quality men are the most attracted to women with some kind of education post-high school, but not too much. Maybe it suggests a higher socio-economic class. I definitely cannot say. However, it is clear that obtaining a post-graduate degree or just attending high school sets women's desirability below those with a bachelor's degree. (Again, I'm sure there are many desirable women who are post-graduate or have only graduated high school, but these show interesting implications about general trends.)

Again, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!