True, and I support and respect women being that independent. But, having said that, I can tell you that here in the Midwest on dating sites like Match, most women still are seeking a man who will be both loyal to them and take care of them financially by usually paying for the expenses of the dates, esp. early on in the process. And because most men in my area will gladly do that, we have no choice but to pay if we want to compete for those women with men who will pay and date those women. Now, of course, we can choose to not play that game and not pay for the meals and costs of dates, but if we do we are left with way fewer women from the paid sites to date. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. And when it's already such an uphill battle for men on paid sites who are not great-looking to get interest from women, it doesn't really leave them with much of a choice now, does it?

Well, that's certainly true. But two can live more cheaply than one, so pooling resources makes sense also.

Not really. If the man isn't willing to jump in to help support her financially, what use is he?

I wouldn't give up my own plans go on dinner dates with some strange man who expects me to pick up the tab, or share the bill.
If I had to do that, I'd MUCH rather NOT go on the date, so I can do what I want.

works both ways

Absolutely true