The latest video of Zari Hassan and her husband Shakib Cham Lutaaya has revived public interest in a relationship that has, for years, unfolded under intense scrutiny.
The couple has had a well-documented history of public disagreements. In 2023, they trended after Zari claimed she was carrying the bulk of the financial responsibilities at home, questioning what Shakib was contributing.
Things later escalated when Shakib suggested Zari was too old to give him children. Their relationship has never been short of drama or public commentary.
Now, a new clip shows Zari telling Shakib that the women who flock around him only do so because she married him.
“Women love you because of me. You know that? They love you because of me,” she says. She also notes that whenever they go out, women twerk around Shakib or try to get his attention, while insisting that men also approach her but she maintains boundaries because she is married.
The exchange has split opinion online. Some see Zari’s comments as blunt honesty, others call them harsh. But beyond emotions and surface reactions, there is something important to acknowledge: Zari is describing a well-established social and biological phenomenon.
Why Men Gain Attention When They Are Already Taken
In evolutionary psychology, this is known as preselection or mate-choice copying. It refers to the tendency for women to find a man more attractive when they see that he has already been chosen by another woman—especially a woman who appears confident, attractive, accomplished, or socially desirable.
Multiple studies show that men wearing wedding rings or standing with a beautiful partner are rated more attractive than the same men when they appear single.
Researchers suggest that women subconsciously assume that if another high-value woman has vetted a man, he must possess qualities worth paying attention to.
This is exactly the dynamic Zari is pointing out.
Women did not “discover” Shakib out of nowhere.
They discovered him through Zari.
And through Zari, they formed new assumptions about him—status, stability, desirability, capability.
In other words, her presence increased his perceived value.
Committed Men Are Seen as More Stable and More Trustworthy
Research also shows that committed men appear more responsible and emotionally mature. A wedding ring—or even just being publicly partnered—signals qualities that are often invisible in single men. These cues elevate a man’s status in the eyes of other women.
Zari, a successful businesswoman and mother of five, embodies high social and aesthetic value. Being with her inevitably boosts Shakib’s perceived attractiveness. This isn’t an insult to him; it is how human mate-choice psychology works.
The female commenters agreeing with her are not guessing—they are describing a pattern most people recognise intuitively but rarely articulate.
Public Reaction Mirrors the Science
Many comments online echoed the same reasoning:
- “Did she lie though?”
- “I knew Shakib because of her.”
- “When a man has a beautiful woman, ladies suddenly want a slice too.”
These reactions show how widely understood preselection is, even if people don’t use the academic term for it.
A smaller group felt Zari was belittling him, but that interpretation misses the point. Stating the social dynamics at play in a relationship is not disrespect. It is clarity.
Conclusion
Zari’s statement is grounded in observable behaviour and supported by decades of evolutionary research. Women do pay more attention to men who have already been chosen by desirable partners.
Shakib’s visibility and attractiveness to other women increased because of Zari’s public commitment to him.
This does not diminish who he is as a person as he is attractive in his own right, It simply recognises a truth about human behaviour: Being chosen by the right partner changes how the world sees you.
