That is until I recently saw the word “hypergamy” on social media. This is courting someone of a higher socioeconomic or social class than oneself. Of course, this is nothing new; after all, I grew up reading Jane Austen novels. As humans, it’s natural to want to “date up”. The psychotherapist Jack Worthy, who focuses on relationship patterns, said: “Status is shiny and we all pursue what’s shiny in a partner, in a career, in friends. By “shiny”, Worthy means attention-grabbing and desired by everyone. And a lot of the time, those traits are physical. “Height in a man is shiny. Men six feet and taller find much more success on dating apps. A certain hip-to-waist ratio is shiny in a woman. All of us notice shiny traits in potential partners.” A person who grew up middle-class marrying into an upper-middle-class family would count as an example of hypergamy.