Marty,
Interesting post. We are right at the heart of the seduction matter.
Marty said:
(a) Do women generally agree on who these top 20% actually are?
(b) If the answer to (a) is "yes", then there must be some specific qualities that these men exhibit that allows women to recognize them as in the top 20%, in which case is it possible to imitate these qualities and thus be oneself recognized as in the top 20%?
Top 20% of men, but from which point of view? Sexual mating? Or long term mating? We're right back into the Lover vs Provider dichotomy.
But yes, there are some traits that women agree on, no matter race, culture, education, religion, especially when it comes to sexual mating.
And this is what seduction is all about, and why it works so well.
Learning seduction is essentially about learning how to replicate these characteristics that are so appealing to women from a sexual point of view. Well, at least initially, because when you can pull it off and make it work, you slowly embrace these characteristics and they become a part of you... And ultimately you don't need to fake them anymore.
And because these sexually appealing traits are deeply rooted into women psychology, they have a somewhat universal character - meaning that girls roughly agree to what these traits are.
Elsewhere in the manosphere, a lot of writers make the argument that since women tend to choose the top 20% of guys (so-called "hypergamy"), most men are unlikely to get chosen.
But it is not true that the 80% bottom are unlikely to get chosen. That's why marriage exists, a long term one-to-one pairing. The problem with the top 20% guys is that every woman wants them. They are swimming in a sea of women. So their incentive to monogamously settle down with just one, is very low. Hence, they are difficult to control. So, most women will fail at making such a top man settle with them. Ultimately, they leave in frustration and decide to go down one step in the pyramid, and settle with one of the 80% - on the basis of his Provider traits. That's why the bottom 80% manage to get their share, too. Well, most of them at least, because in the 80% you also have a minority of men who are not attractive at all, both from Lover and Provider point of view. These guys are the totally transparent ones.
Regarding what the Lover characteristics are, there's a whole lot of articles here in GC. Let us summarize what I think is the main one, in a nutshell:
He is not ashamed of his own sexuality and he takes what he wants unapologetically.
In sum, he is an impudent, self-confident sexual man who is used to lead the women he wants to the bed, with no second thoughts.
Other characteristics are good to have, such as status, or wealth, but they are more into the Provider category.
Seppuku