The idea of seeking a partner for status, rather than for companionship and quality, is toxic in general.
It's not unique for either gender, but with men from what I've observed it tends to be high-competence men who are also egotistical who pursue a 'high status' (usually just means very physically attractive) women where the high status is a primary reason.
Every man, of course, is likely to prefer a more beautiful/sexy woman than a less, but most men will have a more realistic expectation, "Sure, it'd be nice to go out with the prom queen, but she won't give me the time of day, and Sally's reasonably cute and we get along."
Women though, of all levels of social status and personal qualities, have been encouraged by the culture to think that they deserve 'the best,' and that it's not just unfair, but outright misogynistic for a lower-status guy to think she's on his level, where 'misogynistic' means 'evil.' Not all women actually internalize this attitude, of course, but very large swathes of the population have, and completely setting aside the effect it has on men, it is purely destructive for themselves.
First off, it's selfish and immature, and actively embracing it retards maturation, making them more likely to stay selfish and immature. Selfishness and immaturity makes a person miserable in general, not just in romance.
Second off, building off the first element, this kind of thinking almost always warps a woman's perception of what makes a man 'high status.' 'High competence asshole with lots of money' is usually not actually a good romantic partner, and while he may get your motor running, you're almost certainly not going to be able to maintain a healthy relationship with him, even if you are high status/attractive enough to catch his attention, because he's probably as selfish and immature as you are.
As a side note, high-status, high-competent men who are also mature and good romantic partners, are almost always going to be too wise and discerning to try to build a serious relationship with a shallow and selfish woman, so no matter how attractive a woman is, if she has this immature and selfish mindset, good men generally aren't going to get involved with her. Hormones turning off the brain means it still happens sometimes, but those usually don't end well either.
Third off, this mentality tends to actively incentivize young men to display the high-competence asshole traits that these women throw themselves off. Creating more 'players' is not generally a good move. There will always be at least some in a large society, but incentivizing 'pick up artist' culture isn't doing women any good.
I suppose, in a way, PUAs, or 'rakes,' or 'players,' or whatever term you want to use, is the male equivalent of this mentality, but because of the differences between the sexes, only a small percentage of men can ever be such a thing. It doesn't really take them to happy places in the end either, even if they gain a lot of short-term pleasure out of it.
