OK, but there's a pretty clear difference between "pull your own weight and be a real partner" and being a conman and a parasite, which this guy clearly was. Not wanting a man to take advantage of you financially is not the same as demanding to be provided for. I know there are women out there who do still cling to that patriarchal belief, and agree that it needs to go, but you seem to be conflating a lot of things here that aren't the same at all and putting them under one umbrella, and I don't think they all belong there.

You know who gets married the least? Poor women, because they are the least able to absorb being legally yoked with a man who is either sponging off them, spending their money frivolously, or otherwise being a financial drain on them. You wouldn't believe how many men try to do that - men who are not contributing to the relationship in other substantial ways that offset the finances. Nothing wrong at all with being a real stay-at-home dad or househusband, but most women have never actually seen a man who truly does that. What they have seen is a lot of guys who freeload off women and take advantage of the fact that they are lonely.

20% of American women make more than their husbands; 30% make the same. I really don't think most women want a man who makes more under those circumstances, but they do want a man who isn't going to sponge off of them - but those are two different things.