People get emotional when you say it out loud:

A lot of women won’t date an “average” guy because he’s not up to her standard.
Status. Height. Money. Looks. Lifestyle.
But the same people don’t get as loud when the opposite happens:
If a man is rich, most of those filters suddenly become optional.
He’s not asking:
“Is she on my financial level?”
He’s asking:
“Do I like her? Do I want her around?”
And that contrast is what confuses people.
Because it exposes something uncomfortable:
Dating has never been equally “pure” on both sides.
It’s always been filtered through value perception.
The only difference is what each gender tends to prioritize.
Men often trade status/resources for access.
Women often trade access for stability/status.
But then you get to the part nobody likes to say out loud:
If dating becomes purely transactional—looks for status, status for attention—then what exactly are we calling “love” anymore?
And that’s where the real question sits:
Is modern dating about connection…
Or just different currencies being exchanged?
Because if everything is conditional anyway…
Then people aren’t really mad about standards.
They’re mad about who gets to set them.