Whatever it is that men think women should be attracted to or be willing to settle for, and vice versa, is irrelevant.

If settling were a valid option for an individual, they would've done it already.

Men will say "just don't expect men to settle for a woman after she's had all her fun"

Women will say "no younger woman will want you"

Well in reality, all it takes is 1 (or 10 or 100, depending on what the goal is).

These types of hard and fast rules may have once had some truth....like for villagers living in a constrained society.

But now if we are willing to be patient, the pool is much more numerous...tens of thousands or even millions. Some may have to use niche avenues, of course.