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Notes -
I think the whole "competence tax" argument misunderstands how much fiction aimed at women works.
Romance is part of practically all fiction aimed at women. The most common female romantic fantasies is of being someone who's already special, attractive, or competent, but who has "flaws" or personal difficulties that make her feel overlooked or unappreciated. Then a highly desirable, high-status man comes along who recognizes her worth and loves her for who she already is. The same general fantasy can even happen without romance at all, the key really is being "unfairly" socially overlooked.
The flaws make the protagonist easier to self-insert into and set up the romantic payoff. Conversely, the male love interest needs to be relatively uncomplicated and exceptional for his recognition to be particularly meaningful. Giving him comparable failures and insecurities undermines the fantasy.
And if the competent man is just a minor character, there's often no reason to explore his personal problems in the first place.
It isn't a competence tax. It's setup for self-insertion and romance, or simply ordinary storytelling.
Male fantasies, romantic or not, don't work this way so weaknesses of this type frequently hinder rather than set-up the fantasy being sold.
Yes, but when people notice the cringey unflattering self-indulgent tropes of women's romance fiction, they don't treat it as an injustice that needs to be corrected so more men can enjoy reading about vampire billionaires.
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