I cannot help but think that we as "modern" people think we know oh so much more than the combined wisdom of the hundreds of generations that came before us.

And perhaps we do, in things like science and technology. But when it comes to human nature, perhaps we should try to understand why certain rules and taboos were in place, rather than summarily dismissing them as outdated bigotry.

As several commenters have alluded to, women in general do not marry down, and also, as a group (with plenty of exceptions, of course) they tend to prefer slightly older men, or at least the same age.

Couple those facts with the fact that men prefer younger women in general, and you reach the conclusion that, once again, several commenters have also pointed to: after a certain age, it will be that much harder for them to find a match, because many of the men her age or slightly older have already found someone, and because with each passing year, the number of men interested steadily decreases.

May not be politically correct and all that, but who cares. Steemit has not been taken over by the left yet.

You also forgot something very important in your article, and that is the overabundance of men in China, due to past policies.

This makes chinese women very picky, as the men are salivating to find themselves a partner, full on knowing there are less available women than men.

Somehow, even in this situation, the women there complain that it is hard to find a man. Draw your conclusions (hint: hypergamy).

And finally, patriarchy (like most things in life) has very little to do with it.