This is true to an extent, but there is more to it. There is no question that there was a lot of white knighting going on in the old days, and it wasn't necessarily about asserting one's property rights.
When the Titanic sank in 1912, men, by and large, remained on board to face certain death in order to allow women to escape. That was considered a "gallant" thing to do back in those days. 72% of Titanic's female passengers survived; only 16% of the male ones did. The few men who did escape were accused of cowardice and were socially ostracized. When Costa Concordia sank in 2012, men were actually pushing women aside as they were making their way to the lifeboats. I would say that Titanic's male passengers were far more "white knight" than the modern men on Costa Concordia.
Another example of old time white knighting is the idea that a man is supposed to come to the assistance of "the damsel in distress" . The very word "damsel" is archaic in origin. The "knight in shining armour" rescuing the "damsel in distress" was an extremely popular plot line in mediaval fairytales. Same thing with Ancient Greek mythology (i.e. Perseus rescuing Andromeda from the sea monster).
My take on it is that beta male white knighting likely appeared around the same time as agriculture and fixed settlements (the beginnings of the "civilized society"). It's a socially conditioned trait, promoted by the elites to control the average man.
