Well see, that's the thing. Society's rules are not set in stone. They change over time. Dramatically, in fact. They are highly malleable.

I think for most, they want to be within the bell shaped curve safe zone of society's expectations enough to not be ostracized as a pariah because that affects your quality of life but also not be captured in the sway of some tangent that isn't going to last (we all consciously and subconsciously know this) and may also be so extreme as to negatively affect your quality of life.

It's a seesaw we all have to stand on so you want to stay as close to the fulcrum as possible so you don't get knocked off or have the bumpiest, scariest ride.

To further answer your question, I would rather not have a partner than to try to meet the extremes of modern expectations because doing so throws me into an existential tail spin. It negatively impacts my life. I get more burden to bear and very little of value in return. It also negatively impacts my ability to mother well and that’s a hard line I will not cross.

Now, if that changes, I don’t have anything against partnering per se but the pickings are mighty slim and I’ve dated a lot, using a lot of different strategies.

When I’ve dated the gamut from men I outweighed by 45 or 50 lbs to ones who outweighed me by much more than100 (gross morbid obesity), a homeless man to a near millionaire who owned his own business, a guy built like DJ Qualls to a guy built more like the Rock, and a guy much shorter than me to a guy who was like 6’8" or 6’9" (more than a foot taller than me) you can’t say it’s because I’m too picky. There’s also been a more or less equal amount of dumping vs being dumped.

No. It’s pretty clear that modern expectations are in an extreme tangent that is preventing both sexes from finding suitable mates. A big reason why is due to the influence of marketing and media IMHO.