As long as both sexes see one another as vectors of acquisition (what do I get?!) and not people to connect with, it'll keep getting worse.
I'm of the opinion that it, like most core social constructs in modernity, have been poisoned by capitalism and the glorification of avarice that comes with it, when those infected with avarice should have their society pelting rotten produce at them. A romantic partnership is supposed to be a commune of love and cooperation, not a good girl "marrying up," not a good boy acquiring a "trophy."
As long as we keep looking at each other through the prism of material gain and ambition and greed instead of love and intimate connection, few will be happy, whether alone or in a business partnership with a spouse that's abandoned the millisecond "for worse" aka life inevitably arrives.
