Call me old fashioned, but yes, you (men) should pay or at very least give a sincere offer to pay. If you invite the other party on a date, then you should pay

Call me old fashioned, but yes, you (men) should pay or at very least give a sincere offer to pay. If you invite the other party on a date, then you should pay. You presumably controlled the choice of venue after all. If the other party invited you on a date then you should offer to pay (the full amount) given first impressions and societal baggage. The only excuse (IMHO) to not pick up the tab is if the other party is clearly uncomfortable with that and offer more than token opposition to the notion. I'm really talking about the first few dates here. Once you strike up a real relationship and understand each others preferences and resources you can sort out who pays for what. I recognize that my views might be old fashioned and are based on me typically being in a much stronger financial position that the average person I might have met.