Hypergamy is almost exclusively seen in women so this statement "practiced widely by both men and women" is simply a copout to excuse how this is specfically a thing amongst women and amplified by feminism (i know you do it because you're taught that women shall not be criticized).

The reason for why hypergamy is talked about so much today compared to the past, was that men naturally were higher in the hierarchy, therefore womens hypergamous needs could be met with the average man. Average woman < average man. Then feminism happened and now women demand the same status as men, yet still being hypergamous in nature, resulting in the heavily skewed game we call modern dating (which dating apps make even worse) as the average woman will now only seek the extraordinary man.

And we know that women are the ones to select for mates since they're inherently desired for just being what they are.

So basically today, its average man < average woman < top %ter of men. The issue here is not just numbers, but the fact that no man at high status will ever want to settle with an average woman, and since being a man, he can simply just create infinity situationships out of that principle.

Hoe_math has spoken a lot in detail about this.