Years ago, I read a biography of a prostitute.  She got married after becoming a prostitute.  Very early in the relationship, she told him bluntly that she can go out to dinner at a nice restaurant and get laid with any of her clients and if he didn't have more to offer her, why should she see him?<p>According to the book "More work for mother", homemakers today work about 60 hours a week -- the same as homemakers did 300 years ago.  The book is the history of technology in the home -- ie of "labor saving devices" like vacuum cleaners.  Such inventions apparently saved male labor, not female labor.  Vacuum cleaners meant men stopped having to beat the rugs and women took over the task of cleaning rugs.    Women who work full time jobs still do 40 hours of housework a week.  Men have endeavored to pick up some of the slack.  It amounts to them doing, on average, about 10 minutes more a day or an hour and ten minutes a week -- which doesn't begin to make up for the 20 hours of labor she is no longer doing.<p>With a 50% divorce rate (in the US), I don't think your typical marriage involves Wuv, Twu Wuv (a la <i>Princess Bride</i>).  But all the statistics and anecdotes I am familiar with indicate that it does typically involve a great deal of domestic labor on the part of the woman.  And, statistically, men with a full-time wife/homemaker climb the corporate ladder faster and make more money on average.  I don't think you can replicate that outcome by removing a wife's domestic duties and replacing her with someone who looks good on your arm and is great in bed.  This is likely why we have a historical tradition of wealthy men having both a wife and a mistress:  The two women play very different roles in his life.  And the two women likely want very different things from the relationship.  (Perhaps both would ideally like the same thing.  But most people are unable to arrange some ideal relationship.  When faced with compromising, different people have different priorities.)<p>In short, I think it is a mistake to think that the same woman in different circumstances would have the same thing to offer.  The act of marrying her changes her (or at least changes her relationship to him, for good or for ill).  If a man likes what he is getting from an escort service, marrying his favorite escort does not mean he will get more of the same.  As for social taboos:  People still talk when a wealthy man marries a much younger, very beautiful woman.  It is generally assumed to be "an arrangement", not love, and still gets frowned upon.