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I no longer pay for the first date, the second date is 50/50, and the third date is pretty much always a yes.
A girl can look at you in three ways, generally she has friends, lovers, and providers.
You do not want to be seen as the potential provider, you want to be her lover. If you pay, you look needy, she will stick you into the potential boyfriend category, which may sound good, but it isn't. If she looks at you this way, she is more likely to withhold sex from you for a while, and guess what? That leaves the door open for some guy to actually become her lover.
The lover of the girl knows how to turn on her emotions, something that is rare among guys.
The provider knows how to give her things, which isn't something limited to you, almost any guy can pay for a date.
Keep it a mystery with her, don't pay on the first date, and you will be looked at as a lover and not a provider.
Sounds as though you're been sipping the PUA koolaid. I'm going to hazard a guess in thinking you haven't had much experience with women. While there is no hard and fast rule when it comes to deciding on whether to pay for your date, it is worth weighing the following perspectives (I've taken these from 3 very close female friends who have had their share of experiences with men):
Girl 1 (25 y.o.): "I m perfectly fine with the guy not paying on a first date, I can afford my own food and I m down for equal"
Girl 2 (28 y.o.): "If a guy doesn't pay for the first date, I just assume that he's not interested in me and if I like him, I feel disapointed"
Girl 3 (37 y.o.): "A guy who doesn't pay for the first date is inconsiderate and doesn't deserve a 2nd [date]"
Obviously there's nothing scientific about 3 opinions from 3 very different girls. I provided this as an example that there's no clear answer. I will tell you this, I had dated a girl not too long ago (we met on pof), and our encounter went very well, however I wasn't really feeling her from the moment I saw her in person as I didn't find myself as physically attracted to her as I was to her photos. That said, when the bill came I had suggested we go dutch, at which point her tone completely changed and she fell silent on the drive home.
Look, a lot of guys are so fearful about this power dynamic thing, and its not healthy whatsoever. If you begin playing power games from the getgo, if you do get into a relationship with this person it will be a cycle that's extremely hard, if not impossible, to break. Sure, there are certain things you just don't do at any point such as act needy or whatever - you work on always improving yourself not for anyone's sake but your own and that's an extremely attractive asset to women and people in general. For myself, if I enjoy the woman's company I have no issue whatsoever to pay for her meal. Why? Because I WANT to and yea, like it or not as males we do have a script to ahere to and if I want the woman I like to feel special I have no problem buying her things, and paying for her MEALS (yes, I said MEALS as in more than one OMG!! GASP!!! JEezuz Christ I MUST BE SUCH A BETA!! Right??!!).
Come on guys, give the ego a break, stop shooting yourself in the foot and learn how to be gentlemen - yes, most women are craving a guy who will be chivalrous, in spite of all the equality bs(which isnt true at all anyway).
Do you realize there is a difference between what a girl thinks she wants and what she ACTUALLY wants?
I am in college, so I am not really interested in 37 year old women.
Generally women that age are looking for someone to marry... i.e. a provider. So it makes sense that older women would prefer the guy paying on the date.
A girl may say she wants to be wined and dined by some nice guy, but notice, that every guy who uses these nice guy tactics almost always gets friend zoned. Girls don't want nice guys, they want guys with an edge.
Obviously it would be very beta for someone to make a gripe about two bucks with a girl, but I have never had this problem. The girl usually tries to pay for herself, and a couple times I have even had her pay me for the date.
There have only been a couple times where it was somewhat in question as to who would pay, and I always give the honest explanation- that a relationship needs mutual investment.
What does paying do? It creates an imbalance of the investments- she is getting what she wants, but are you getting what you want?
This is the old Diamonds and Gold analogy. The girls prefer diamonds (all the gifts, dates, cuddling, etc.) while guys prefer the gold (sex). If she is getting what she wants, and you aren't getting what you want, you have created an imbalance in the relationship, and she's winning. Girls have no problem putting you on the backburner, they usually have several backburner guys at any one time.
If you have already had sex with her then paying shouldn't be an issue- do it. She gave you gold, now you can give her diamonds.
If you haven't had sex with her, then I would suggest not paying, just do something cheap, like fastfood or a local place.
If you have made out with her only, then you are in a gray area. Generally I still would lean toward not paying.
This is really not even about paying for the date, it is about investment. You want to make sure you are never investing more in her than she is in you. If she does something kind for you, you can meet her. Notice most really good friendships also have very equal levels of investment