Women marry up ... men marry down!
One of the catch phrases which annoys me is blaming the White Male Patriarchy for the "servitude" of women. Historically there were periods of time where there were many more men than women (Age of Chivalry) or at least the number of women available for a select proportion of society (the aristocracy) was limited. During these periods the privileged women were able to form marriages to their advantage ... improving their social position. I suspect now in North American society that the reverse is becoming true. There are fewer higher status males in relation to high status women (especially in the future as women dominate higher education).