Commodity dating?

The cover story of the November issue of the Atlantic is about why women don't
marry. On the back cover of the print edition is an advertisement for
engagement rings. This doesn't strike me as an accident.

Here's the logic of Kate Bolick's article: There are fewer
"marriageable" men, so women are having to tough it out on their own. The crux
of her argument comes five pages in:

If dating and mating is in fact a marketplace--and
of course it is--today we are contending with a new "dating gap," where
marriage-minded women are increasingly confronted with either deadbeats or
players.