There are many posts that say that the average woman (a 50th percentile in terms of looks) will probably hook up with or date an above average man (for example a 70th percentile in terms of looks). TRP attests this to hypergamy, but I believe there are also alternate explanations for this. This is one of my hypotheses that I came up with based on the research I've read.

One of those alternate explanations for the 80/20 rule is that average woman is more attractive than the average man. I think that nobody will argue that the average woman cares a lot more about her looks and puts more effort into looking good than the average man. The average woman will put on some makeup and spend time selecting the best outfit from her wardrobe before even going out. Makeup and clothing can make the average HB5 woman look like an HB7 or HB8. The average man does not do makeup or spend time selecting the best outfit from his wardrobe. A HB5 guy will stay at HB5. It would make sense that the average woman, who is equally attractive as a 70th percentile guy, will want to date or hook up with a guy who looks as attractive as her.

Another reason for the disparity between the attractiveness of the average female and the average male is not only about how much effort men and women put into their appearance, but about the type of effort that women and men put into their appearance. Women and men typically agree on what female attractiveness is. A woman who a man considers sexy is usually also what another woman would consider good-looking. Therefore, the effort that women put into their attractiveness – the makeup they do and the outfits they choose based on their opinion of what is attractive, is also attractive to men, which raises their SMV value. However, women and men don’t typically agree on what is attractive on a male. Popular fashions among men, such as having skateboards and the best sneakers, which are viewed as cool in front of other men don’t matter that much to women. Other popular trends for men such as pant-sagging are downright unattractive to women. Many women also don’t care if their men lift as much as they care about the face (which many men don’t pay as much attention to). So many things that men do to improve their attractiveness don’t actually increase their SMV.

Besides just makeup, fashion and lifting, women naturally have more feminine faces than men, and feminine faces are considered conventionally attractive (for both genders, even men-see linked articles below for this). The women who are sex symbols, such as Marilyn Monroe, have very feminine features, as is expected. However, most of the men who are considered heartthrobs such as Harry Styles, Shinee’s Taemin, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, etc. also have feminine or androgynous faces. There are more women with feminine or androgynous faces than men, so more women would be considered facially attractive than men. In other words, the average female would be more attractive than the average male facially, so an average attractiveness woman who seeks an above average man is not looking for someone more attractive than her like hypergamy would suggest, but for someone equally attractive as her.

What’s your opinion on this idea?

Linked article below http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1380265/Men-feminine-faces-likely-hit-women.html (this link title is weirdly phrased, it has nothing to do with DV, the actual article title is “Dude looks like a lady: Men with feminine faces more likely to be a hit with women”)

http://faceresearch.org/students/masculinity This link shows that feminine facial features are considered attractive in both men and women.

Edit for clarification: I don't believe in the 80/20 rule or hypergamy, but I do believe that many women believe that the lack of effort that the average man put into their appearance when looking for a date is a turn off. I have both female and male friends (who hang out with each other), and when the male friends say that they can't find a date, the female friends tell them that they expect dates to drop from the sky without trying.