This post does not address sexual market value or SMV directly. I already posted about the subject several times on this blog.
The premise of those posts is that SMV is an overhyped concept that I acknowledge has basis in fact. I address those facts in this post without using the term “SMV,” except to preface what I say below.
To reiterate my previous points about SMV, I don’t subscribe to the notion that a woman’s value as a potential partner or mate is precipitously less valuable as she ages, starting at the tender age range of 25-30.
However, I do acknowledge that a person’s behaviors at certain stages in life can validate the curve that opens this post.
The hard truth that men and women peak at different stages in life is one of the few things the so-called manosphere gets right, even if they pervert the truth to spin a jaded narrative.
That said…
Everyone loves to pretend the dating market is “equal” and “timeless.”
It isn’t.
Male and female desirability don’t mature at the same pace, and that mismatch is the root of half the bitterness, entitlement, disappointment, and delusion you see today, and these truths are perverted by the so-called manosphere and the feminist movement.
I focus only on the facts…
1. Women Peak First — and Pay for It Later
In their teens and 20s, women are at their highest point of raw desirability. Youth, beauty, novelty, and attention are at max levels.
They’re chased, praised, sought after, and validated — often without having to develop themselves much beyond looks and charm.
Then things shift.
As time passes, what made them valuable at face value at their peak starts fading.
Depth, character, and compatibility matter — but many never had to build those muscles when the attention came for free at their peak.
2. Men Peak Later — and Change the Rules When They Get There
Most men in their 20s don’t have the finances, confidence, stability, or social leverage to be in demand. They’re invisible to many women, overlooked in favor of flashier men or temporary thrills.
But give a man time, discipline, and direction?
His desirability climbs in his 30s, 40s, even 50s. When he finally becomes the man everyone ignored him for NOT being earlier, his options expand — and his memory is long.
3. The Mismatch Breeds Resentment
Young women live like their options will always be as they are at age 24.
Older men who have their act together see their options finally look like they wished they’d looked at age 24.
Women panic when the male attention they are accustomed to receiving dips. Men evolve when their value starts to rise
That time gap fuels many narratives:
“Men are shallow!” (Feminism)
“Women wasted their 20s and now want commitment!” (The manosphere)
“He thinks he can trade up!” (Feminism)
“She only wants the guys she ignored before!” (The manosphere)
Both genders end up side-eyeing each other across a timeline neither created but both suffer from.
4. Reverse Timing = Relationship Turbulence
By the time many women want something serious, they’ve already passed the point where they had the most leverage.
By the time men become truly valuable, they’re no longer interested in the women who ignored them before they reached their peak.
The unfortunate result?
Women now wanting long-term commitment from the men they once overlooked because they weren’t exciting enough are now men spoiled for choice.
Men finally gaining options they never had and now refusing to “settle” for the women who treated them like background characters a decade earlier.
5. Biology and Society Never Synced Their Clocks
Women’s fertility timeline often fuels an urgency to find commitment early. Smart women realize this fact and act accordingly. The women blinded by their “fun girl mentality” ignore this fact to their detriment.
Men’s financial and social maturity give them expanded options later, assuming they used their youth to build themselves up. Many men don’t spend their youth wisely.
Society never bridged that gap — it just pretended it didn’t exist.
The unfortunate result?
Women feel like they are going to age out. Men feel like they aging into power.
6. False Equality Makes Things Worse
Modern culture tells women, “Live it up, you can settle down whenever.”
It tells men, “You’re behind if you’re not successful by 25.”
Both are lies.
Women are told time doesn’t matter.
Men are told their time is up before it even begins.
7. The Brutal Reality
The dating market runs on value, not feelings.
Desirability isn’t evenly distributed across life — it spikes and dips differently for men and women.
Women lose external attention before many develop internal security.
Men gain external attention right when they’ve finally built internal value.
And when those timelines collide?
You don’t get harmony. You get chaos, miscalculation, regret, arrogance, panic, entitlement, and resentment.
Closing Thoughts 💭
Men become desirable when they’ve earned it.
Women are desired before they understand it.
That’s not misogyny or misfortune — it’s timing. And timing, not love, is what wrecks most modern relationships before they even start.
The thing folks should wrap their heads around for hope is to truly understand the dynamics they are up against in order to adjust their behavior to maximize their success in the dating market.
Listening to the manosphere, the feminists, Instagram influencers, or celebrities to understand the dating market will only lead you astray and into flawed conclusions that won’t serve you well.
Men and women are not enemies. The low-value behavior that popular and social media focuses on is misleading and only serves to alienate people.
Having realistic standards and expectations with an understanding of the dynamics above is the key to success in the dating market.
-The Rational Ram
The Rational Ram 