I truly think this is a coping mechanism for men who didn't/don't feel attractive in their 20s who desperately want to believe the tables will somehow turn when women their own age reach their 30s/40s. However, in reality, most women I know look much better than men their own age in their 30s and 40s, even accounting for how sexism allows aging in men more than women. Not because men are inherently uglier, but because women tend to care more about maintaining their appearances as they age. So these insecure men either have to accept that they aren't going to age into being appealing to women or resort to preying on women who are younger and less experienced/able to see through their bullshit. That's setting aside how transparently superficial and desperate it is to see women's worth as 'peaking' based on appearance alone rather than seeing her value as reflected in her experience, self-actualizatuon, career, passions, etc. But, of course, confident, accomplished women probably aren't interested in these types of men anyway.