Macken Murphy

Women’s Economic Independence Is Reshaping Male Mate Competition

Macken Murphy argues that as women gain more financial independence, men may face less pressure to compete through provision and more through parenting effort and appearance—though he says the evidence is stronger for parenting than for beauty. Rob Henderson counters that increased paternal involvement in the US is concentrated among educated, upper-middle-class men, while Steve Stewart-Williams argues that changing norms about fathers’ responsibilities may also explain the shift. Their discussion treats sex differences in mate preferences as persistent under scarcity, but disputed in how economic and cultural change alters the traits men compete on.