The biggest consideration on the ladder is POWER, not money. In our commercial society money=power.
POWER can take many forms: strength, stamina, status, influence, family, land, money, and even politics.
As a young girl grows into an adult, the PERCEPTION of which form of power is important can change.
Raising succesfull children is not cheap (time, labor, money). Unsuccessfull and unhealthy children are even more costly. So it makes sense to be attracted to healthy bucks and later prefer providers.
Just my Cynical 2 cents on women.
An equally cynical view of males.
Males just have one ladder....so whats the strategy....
Their genes are best spread by planting them in many hosts. They only contribute 1/2 the DNA but not the microchandria... (something or other).
Child raising limits a mans ability to spread his genes. He must find women who can raise a child alone or one who can get another man to help. So a womans attractiveness to males becomes important. Remember that health and youth are important parts of attractiveness.
The healthier the woman the more likely the child will be sucessfull (healthy). The healthy and younger woman should be able to provide more child raising labor. The healthy, younger, and attractive woman is more likely to find a provider male to help with the childs success.
[ November 25, 2002, 20:03: Message edited by: Wardad ]