(So you know those other posts I've made where I list out the possible reasons for a phenomenon or why some think a phenomenon exists? Yeah, this is another one of those)

Anyway, today's topic will be (female) hypergamy and the percieved 80/20 rule, and to a lesser extent the AFC phenomenon

But anyway, I wish to do some examining as to why this is, or why people THINK this occurs. More importantly why all of a sudden it seems so common

Obviously I can't do a poll, so instead I'll just list the options below. These are various theories I've heard or thought of myself

  1. Hypergamy doesn't exist; the men who aren't getting any are actually below average, but they believe they are "average men", making "average frustrated chump" appear to be a more common phenomenon than it is
  2. Hypergamy is real and 80/20 is law
  3. Hypergamy is real and the reality is even worse than 80/20
  4. Hypergamy is a real thing, but most people will still end up with someone relatively close to their own looks level and status. (AKA a mix of hypergamy and assortative mating)
  5. Hypergamy is real, but men do the same thing in reverse
  6. Hypergamy is real, but in the past it was kept relatively in check by societal (and in some places legally) enforced monogamy
  7. The hypergamy's always been there, but women couldn't act on it because there weren't apps where they could easily have droves of men trying to have sex with them
  8. The Hypergamy's always been there, but it just was pretty much invisible until recently
  9. Alternative of number 6: Hypergamy literally didn't even exist until women BECAME aware of these endless options
  10. Hypergamy doesn't exist, but male thirst and settling by men creates a similar-looking phenomenon (perpetuated by one sex instead of the other)
  11. Interesting theory: Hypergamy didn't exist until male thirst created it as a byproduct
  12. Interesting theory: Society in general is growing more entitled and making people believe they've more value than they actually do, this creating this phenomenon

I gotta go with 4, 5, 6, and 7,. I think for the most part, most of us do in fact end up with someone about as attractive as us (and usually in the same social status), but this assortative mating is less and less common now that wanting to "explore" in a sense will either result in 80/20 becoming the truth or people choosing to be single because of "Too many options paralysis"

What do you guys think? Or do you perhaps have an entirely different theory not listed here?