The man always had to pass through struggles in all the eras. The challenges were always in competition with the available resources. The present generation has its own challenges, the previous had their own.
Yes, the previous generation reproduced more and so it became possible for the man kind to reach this era. Otherwise many of the races would have extinguished. It means more reproduction was the need of the time.
So far as wooing thing is considered. The questions is how many of men really do that. Only a very small percentage. There is a large number of people who do not have enough to feed let alone woo and gift a lady to impress, and there is a large number of ladies who just have to get married with being wooed.
Polygamy was not the case of earlier days. It still exist in a more problematic way. What would you want to say about swingers and many others who are involved in infidelity.
And about might is right. Might still have the right, even in the present era. 50000 rape incidents annually happen in New York, a big city of a Super Power state.