That's a little bit of an oversimplification. We had 5k years of agriculture before patriarchy truly came along and took hold. The Minangkabau of Indonesia are a matrilineal culture of about 4 million where mothers are the most revered people in the society. Yet, they still have doctors and lawyers and other modern aspects of society. There are innumerable other non-patriarchal cultures that really don’t slot into this theory.

And I don't know why you assume that women are waiting around for either men or the state to support them. That's pretty condescending. Around the world, women are pursuing higher education at much higher rates than men are. If things continue at this rate, in another couple of decades the entire professional class will be made up primarily of women. As it stands now, there are 12 American cities where young women out-earn men and that trend continues. Across the age spectrum, about 30% of women make the same as their male partners and 20% make more. The people least likely to marry are poor women, who are the least able to absorb being yoked to a man who is a financial drain on them for whatever reason.

I think this attitude that women need men to provide for them is one of those anachronisms that too many guys don't want to let go of, perhaps because they don't know who they are otherwise, but it's to their detriment. Most women aren't waiting around for a man to take care of them financially, and that's a part of the dating issue right now. When men offered financial security they didn't have to offer much else. The dating bar was extremely low but now that most women aren't dependent on men for money, they don't have to put up with that shit. They want actual partners, and it seems like a lot of men don't want to up their game. Instead, they decide that women want richer, buffer guys - because then they don't have to actually work on themselves and become the real partners that most women actually want.

I read something the other day where the author's friend was thrilled that her date actually came to the door to get her, and didn't just text her from the car that he was there. The friend was gushing about what a gentleman he was and the author was rolling her eyes. That's how low the bar still is.