You might be surprised how pervasive this story is in world history. As far as we know, it dates back to the 6th century B.C. Rhodopis was an enslaved Greek woman who through some shoe mishaps ends up marrying the king of Egypt. I mean you can embellish it with fairy godmothers and what not but that's the gist of these stories. If you have studied Joseph Campbell's work on mythology, you can immediately recognize the power of myths and try to dig a little deeper at what is being conveyed.

Now, Cinderella myths have been a traditionally female favourite. The idea of being freed from slavery/poverty/drudgery by a high value man through a cosmic accident is still very prevalent. Fathers and mothers tell it to their daughters when they ask "Daddy, can I be a princess?". In fact, it's so prevalent that almost all women have watched Disney movies telling the story, possibly multiple times in their lives and in many contexts. They might even believe it is true. Call it hypergamy if you like.

Since the supply of kings/princes/high value men is limited, the numbers just don't work out. Sometimes when you kiss a frog, it's just a frog, so to speak. I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the WAATGM phenomenon came about as a result of Cinderella-like myths. Women believe that they will find Prince Charming and it will just magically happen. This why every fat woman thinks she's a 7 that can pull a 10. So there you have it, in a nutshell. I rest my case. Put a fork in me, I'm done.