First Dates and 50/50: My Own Take
First dates are incredibly thrilling. After all, it’s the first time you’d get to know someone foreign to you. It’s also a major opportunity to see whether they could be good partners or not, AKA a good chance to gauge your compatibility with another person. Also, more often than not, it decides how the rest of your relationship would be. Some click right away, while some just completely cringe at the other, just like [name] to [name] in that one episode of Extraordinary Attorney Woo Young Woo. Others run, while there are those who instantaneously connect and get things going right away.
While it is a fascinating, wholesome activity, it still isn’t free from awkward things like payment.
Recently, there has been a circulating concept that boomed in social media. Everyone was arguing about first dates and who should pay for them. Should it be the “guy” or the “girl”? A lot believe that the former should shoulder everything, while others think that it should be 50/50.
First Dates and 50/50: My Own Take
If you’re going to ask me, I think it should be 50/50.
My first point would be basic decency. Personally, I won’t engage in first dates if I know I won’t be able to contribute at least half the price of our food. I’d rather stay home and do something else, like playing video games or hanging out with friends on Discord. What I’m saying is that my conscience can’t take going out with someone and relying on their money by default. Even if they do seem like someone who’s capable of paying for me, I won’t go out if I can’t pay for at least half. The only exception would be if they insisted.
My next point is equality. To elaborate, I think gender roles should be merely a thing of the past. It is a toxic socially constructed concept, after all. Assigning certain standards to each gender is absurd and incredibly limiting. Putting the sole pressure of paying on the first date on men’s shoulders is not only archaic but unfair as well. We’re already in the era where women should be seen equally as men, as well as other genders.
In short…
To wrap it all up, I think the first dates should be 50/50 because it shows decency and respect to the other party. It also makes it fair by abolishing pre-existing gender roles that only men must bear the weight of paying for everything.
How about you, do you think the first dates should be 50/50 or not? We’d love to hear your thoughts!
