The question is should you pay for your own meal on the first date. Allowing the man to pay is not a sign of weakness, it is an establishment of roles. Yes, yes, I know you can handle picking up the tab. If you pay for yourself on the first date, he will always expect that you will pay for your own meals.
It's really about the courtesy of the guy paying on the first date, and the tacit mutuality of back-and-forth paying after that.
I've seen some absolute RANTS from guys online about women just going out with them for the free meal — this is on their DATING PROFILES, by the way — and that the woman should expect to pay for her own drinks.
The answer is simple–your first date sets the tone for your relationship.
However, avoid flaunting your Wonder Woman charm on the first date. Just know that we met online, met up in Vegas while he was on a family trip and hit it off immediately.
The man paying on dates, the first date especially, has been a long held tradition steeped in chivalry, the fact that women didn't have jobs in some cases (we're talking way back in the day), and a bit of sexism, too.
Since the Women's Right Movement kicked up the long-lying, archaic dust off the ground, one of the big questions, when it comes to dating, is: Should the guy pay?
I went on a date once with my then boyfriend who I had met online. At the stage of us meeting up again, I had flown over 2000 miles to see him in North Carolina.
When we finally connected on for our first date, it was a nightmare when the check arrived.
In one study, 72% of men had been on a date where the woman paid, and 76% of women daters footed the bill at least once also (Lottes, 1993). Then I asked my friends, “How long do men generally pay for dates if the relationship continues?
” The responses varied on this question but the most common response was that men paid for dates for about 2-3 months before the bills were more evenly if not equally split.
When asked who should pick up the check on a first date, 59% of total respondents said that the man should always pay–unless the woman has asked him out.