Contrary to your rather myopic view, it is simple common sense that a woman of character is going to seek out a man of character. A woman of character actually has good judgment in men, hence their rarity (they are all scooped up young by men of character). This dynamic is completely invisible to the average man.
Why would a woman of character date down? She can't. Why wouldn't she be selective? She has to. Why is the math so hard for you to comprehend? I've never said that a man has to "earn" her. But he does have to put himself in her league in order to be desirable to her.
I guess you're a run 'n gun guy, and that's fine. More power to you. I'm a relationship guy.
For a man who develops himself into the best version of himself he can be, the world is his oyster. He has his pick of upper echelon women. The man who neglects to develop himself is left with the average and dregs.
I've never seen a guy so prone to put words in other's mouths. I see you doing that a lot around here. Think a little deeper.
I'll spell it out:
A man doesn't base his value by "earning" a woman. Classy women are a perk for men who have actively brought themselves to a high level by addressing their weaknesses and exploiting their strengths. By actually changing themselves for the better at a core level. Women, however, are a mirror. You don't like that, perhaps because you don't like what the women you deal with reflect.
Just as there is something clearly wrong with an average man being seen with an obviously inferior (ugly) woman, so is it when an authentic, well-developed man is seen with an average woman.
I repeat that women are mirrors.
My little "blue pill" life has become pretty good when it comes to women. I must be some kind of fluke, huh? It had nothing to do with my immense efforts to become a quality man? It has everything to do with that. A high-value man gets higher-value women. A man who stays stuck in mediocrity, running around dissipating himself with casual sex, gets precisely what he attracts.
Nothing dissipates a man and affects his psyche negatively more than running around looking for pvssy for its own sake. My observation is that this dynamic blinds men to higher levels of living, and deeper rewards.
It seems blatantly obvious that women of character, that tiny 2%, will not settle for average men. They will literally throw themselves at men whom they can look up to. That has always been my goal... to be a man whom men (first) and women (second) look up to. This is known as the art of influence in my world. Feminism and female insanity become nonexistent when a man gets to the top of his game, because he starts dealing with normalized women, or women who were never destroyed in the first place.
The way to be a top-level man is to will it. To assume it before it's even true of him. To play the role although present so-called "reality" says it isn't so.
Envy blinds and paralyzes, and envy itself is often invisible to its host. Beware the hidden disease of envy, as it's a silent, completely invisible killer, much like high blood pressure on the physical plane. It disguises itself as "knowledge" and "insight". I used to suffer from it when I couldn't even conceive of myself becoming such a man.
To the noobs here: Never feel like you need to "earn" a certain level of woman. Women are icing on the cake of life, a secondary treat that YOU YOURSELF should be in a position to select out of this tiny minority of high-character women. You build yourself up to deserve life's rewards, whatever those rewards might be out of the treasure chest of life, and one of those rewards is a quality woman.
Going after women simply to get laid is truly an exercise in dissipation and as the years go by, this activity and mind set alters a man's ability to see himself as attaining anything better, and even seeing that anything better even exists. There are all sorts of men here on this forum, from all walks of life. Personally I always valued the advice of those who ferociously bettered themselves to be able to reap better rewards.