What do you think of "trophy wives/girlfriends" and guys who date them? Do you have any experiences with them?

Due to everyone having their own tastes in beauty, we may perceive some couples to be unequally attractive while others don't. Or if they do, the less attractive person might have an interesting personality. But if they're happy together, who cares?

However, there's that 0.001% of couples in which the inequality just seems too much, and something just seems downright off. I went to Southeast Asia last fall and saw this a few times: old, unattractive white men who seemed to put 10% effort into their looks while they held hands with local, super-feminine women who obviously were putting a lot more of effort into their looks. Yeah, some of them were probably hookers, but I know that this thing occurs with non-hookers as well, and in every country/culture. I can't assume that every one of those women were trophy girlfriends, but I know that it is a common occurrence in Southeast Asia in particular. This post is not just about those countries but just trophy partners/gold-diggers/status diggers in general.

Personally, my knee-jerk reaction to these couples, especially the women isn't very nice and actually approaches the sexist shaming women for their sexuality thing, which I feel horrible about since I'm generally sex positive and anti-slut shaming. I mean, who cares what other people do in their romantic lives as long as it's between 2 consenting adults and no one gets hurt? Truly progressive values do not shame women for choosing more traditional methods as long as her partner agrees. Besides, there are a few women out there in which gold-digging is probably their only option of surviving, which may lead to them being some old dude's trophy wife. Those are the more extreme cases, but you can talk about those here too.

Also, I feel that the possible "trophy girlfriends" I've seen have a very distinct energy that I've felt around 0.001% of women. It has to do with being significantly overdressed (but not necessarily younger) in relation to their partner, but a very, very specific form of dress. I can't explain it in words or it would just sound too normal, it's just this unsettling "vibe" I feel. As a subscriber of r/makeupaddiction, I obviously have nothing against putting in a little extra effort to look pretty. This is different.

Of course, no matter how I feel, I'd just let them be. It's not like I really know them. Appearances aren't everything, but the "trophy wife" thing definitely exists. And I think it sucks when it's directly related to gold-digging, because it sucks to be either extremely impoverished or just extremely greedy.