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Progressive Women Secretly Want to Date Conservative Men

Recently, my friend Melissa, was disappointed because a guy she met on Hinge didn’t offer to pay on their first date.
“It made me think he was cheap,” she complained, “and it was a bad first impression.”
Needless to say, they didn’t have a second date.
When she first told me the story, I thought he made her pay for him (which, I would agree, isn’t great.) But upon learning the details of the encounter, she had offered to pay for her own meal, and so they split the bill.
Melissa has a job. She makes her own money. And she frequently advocates for female empowerment and equality.
So why was she disappointed that her date didn’t meet the traditional expectation that the guy should pay?
Another friend of mine, let’s call her Hannah, speaks openly about being independent and capable of taking care of herself in the same breath as complaining about how her boyfriend didn’t offer to walk her home the other night.
Women today are more independent than ever, so why are these types of complaints so common?
A theory: progressive women secretly want to date conservative-minded men.
To be clear, they don’t want a man who is anti-abortion or thinks a woman should save herself for marriage, or dress modestly, or possess traditional homemaking skills like cooking or cleaning. Those days are long gone.
But progressive women do want a man who will pay the tab, open doors, carry bags, walk her home, take her shopping, pick her up for a date, offer her his jacket, and go out of his way to make the woman he’s dating feel like a lady.
These are all traditional expectations of a man’s role in relationships. So, logically, it's the traditional men that still adhere to them.
There’s just one teeny, tiny problem.
Conservative-minded, or traditional, men think it’s their responsibility to care for, protect, and honor women. They enjoy being able to provide. It makes them feel good to know that their lady feels safe and taken care of.