What women want, what men should now get

This article from New Scientist says that as women grow in their earning power they seek mates that are more physically appealing rather than financially appealing. In the past women looked for men to be providers so that physical appeal was less important than the ability to make a living. Now that women make a very good living on their own, their preferences have changed.

WHAT do women want from a man? In the past, surveys have overwhelmingly shown that women want a rich man, and men want a good-looking woman. While not much has changed for men, as women's financial independence has increased, it seems that their preferences have changed.

Fhionna Moore and colleagues at the University of St Andrews, UK, analysed questionnaires from 1851 heterosexual women between the ages of 18 and 35. They found that as a woman's level of "resource control" increases - in other words as they become more financially independent - so does their preference for physical attractiveness in potential partners.

Women who had low levels of control over their cash rated the financial status of a man over his looks. Those with a decent source of income rated physical attractiveness more highly. The study will appear in Evolution and Human Behavior.

Frankly, this is all fine by me. (Prepare for social commentary, for what this is worth:)

First, men are often attracted to women for their physical appeal, so why shouldn't women be the same? More importantly, now that women do, in fact, earn so much, it's also time that men get from women what women have gotten from men. Namely, that men be permitted (that is, socially acceptable) to stay home and take care of the house without scorn and redicule from others. Let the woman support her husband; it doesn't have to be the other way around.

Next, should the relationship not work out, there should be great effort to have the woman pay for husband support so that alimony will go both ways depending on the earning power of each party. No longer will it be assumed that the man will pay. Finally, there should be equal rights in reproductive freedom. Why is it that a woman is the only party to decide the fate of an unborn baby? The father should be an equal part of that decision as well.