first of all, i am not here to make a diatribe of how its unfair how men are expected to spend money on women. as women (by society) have so many expectations to wear makeup, have their hair/nails done, and wear fashionable clothes, etc., i do not consider it an injustice for men to pay for the first date.
in my opinion, i'd say the man should pay for the first 2, and maybe the 3rd. but by the 3rd or maybe 4th date, the woman should pay for half. otherwise i would feel like she was using me.
the first date in my opinion, should not be too expensive. like $10-15 at most. i see no reason to spend $30-50 on a person who I don't know well yet, who may not be worth it. especially, if i have numerous other women to date, it would not be economical to spend a good amount of money on every single woman i meet for the first time. but i think if there is a strong connection after the first date, then she's definitely worth dinner at a good restaurant.
moreover, i would not give expensive gifts (such as jewelry) to my date until we were exclusive and close, like at 6 months maybe. my fear is that giving expensive gifts too early on will destroy the integrity of the relationship. i don't want anything that would artificially mask any lack of chemistry - i would want to know immediately if theres no chemistry, not find out $1000 and a broken heart later. moreover, in some cases i fear a woman may lose respect for me and change their goal from exploring a potential relationship to getting more jewelry.
questions for you:
1. how many dates should the man pay for?
2. is a cheap first date offensive or logical?
3. how far into the relationship until expensive gifts should be given?