Maybe I’m just old fashioned when it comes to dating but I believe that if I ask a woman out, and we go out for drinks or dinner, that I should pay. It’s not a macho thing because I’m actually a feminist and women’s rights advocate, it’s more of the fact that even though our sensibilities as a society have changed over the years I still believe in acting like a gentleman.

Now I don’t necessarily take this concept as far as some might, but I am big on always trying to arrive first so that she doesn’t have to wait for me, opening doors, taking care of the bill and making sure my date gets home okay. My intention in performing these actions is not in any way to exert some form of archaic male dominance, but simply to make my date feel special.

Call me crazy but when I take a woman out on a date I want her to feel important, and that is one of the reasons why I try to do a lot of little things to distinguish myself as a gentleman. Also, as a big brother, I always try to think about how I would want a guy to treat my sister in a similar situation. If a woman was ever to express to me that she was uncomfortable with the dynamic that I had created on our date then I would certainly try to adjust my approach, but otherwise I assume that even by 2010 dating standards my behavior still has some kind of appeal.

Look, I’m not saying that you should bring your date roses or take her out on extravagant dates where you spend a boat load of cash because flowers are cliché and spending money to impress a woman is, in my opinion, a recipe for disaster; however, I do think that the little things matter. Opening a door, putting thought into where you take a woman on your first date and taking a general interest in her life is something that we can all do very easily, and whether you end up marrying that other person or not it’s nice to leave a date knowing that at the very least you treated your date like a lady.