‘I’d be offended’: Trend exposes that Gen Z are embracing traditional gender norm

Gen Z are rallying against a woke Millennial trend, with a single question exposing a surprisingly traditional norm young Aussies are embracing.

“Should men still pay on a first date?”

If you want to spark debate, ask that question at any pub and Aussies will start talking over one another, desperate to get a word in.

For generations, it was accepted that the man would be the one getting his wallet out, until Millennials came along and made everything complicated.

They rejected gender norms, and made the question of paying on dates something of a feminist battleground.

And it’s not just Millennial women – ask any 30- to 35-year-old man if he thinks men should always pay, and watch the steam come out of his ears.

We’ve all heard the counterargument from a man – who, in this scenario, is often wearing chinos – that if women want equality, they can’t expect not to have to get their wallets out, too.

I’ve had fully employed, grown men with superannuation accounts sit across from me on a date, look me dead in the eye and ask me to go halves on paying for two coffees … is this normal now?

Are Gen Z as conflicted as Millennials have been about dating and equality? Is a man paying on the first date in 2025 cringe or expected?

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To find out, news.com.au went straight to hounding unsuspecting Gen Zers.

When news.com.au visited the University of Technology campus to get the gossip, the response was unexpected: Gen Zers still believe men should pay, and even men themselves think men should pay.

Gen Z have revealed if they think men should pay on first dates. Picture: news.com.au

Gen Z men were all pretty much in agreement that men should still pay. Picture: news.com.au

One young student in a fun red top explained that she thinks men should still cough up the cash for a very simple reason: “I just feel like because they asked me out they should make the effort to pay as well,” she reasoned.

What about if she asked them out? She very calmly informed us that, under no circumstances, would she be making the first move with a man.

Old fashioned? Maybe. But her declaration was met with cheering from her gaggle of girlfriends.

She said if they’ve asked, they should be paying. Picture: news.com.au

Gen Z men are more traditional then you would expect too. Picture: news.com.au

The unanimous vibes continued.

A young man in a grey jumper revealed he thinks men should pay because it is a “kind gesture” and he is more than happy to, while another young guy said he feels “nice” if he pays on a first date.

Another Gen Z male followed suit and explained that he is always happy to pay and if a girl ever pushed to pay, he’d have quite the comeback – “I’d tell her I’m paying. Beat them to the card,” he said.

One Gen Z guy with a sensible backpack went as far as to say that, not only would he pay on a first date, but he thinks men “should” pay in general.

A guy in a hoodie went hard, saying “100 per cent” men should pay, which is quite a strong stance.

Meanwhile a female student shared that she believed men should pay on the first date, but it hadn’t always been her experience.

She said she’d been on dates where men had the nerve to expect her to pay.

How did it make her feel?

“Not very good,” she said.

Did she go out with them again?

“No!” she yelled into the microphone.

The pattern of female horror continued, with another young woman explaining that she would be straight-up “offended” if a guy didn’t offer to pay on the first date in 2025.

Gen Z men are happy to pay on first dates. Picture: news.com.au

She said she would be ‘offended’ if a man expected her to pay. Picture: news.com.au

Talking directly to Gen Z revealed they are firmly sticking with gender norms when it comes to dating and ditching the trend that Millennials started.

Not one young person flagged any feminist concerns when asked the question. In fact, the general response was more like, “yeah, duh, men should pay”.

There was one young girl who flagged if the date was “expensive”, she wouldn’t let a man pay, but no gender politics discussions were erupting. It simply wasn’t a controversial question to Gen Z.

There’s still a big gender pay gap in Australia. Picture: iStock

Gen Zers could be on the money with this one.

The problem with the Millennial argument that men and women should just split the bill on dates because that is equal and fair, is that we live in an unfair world.

The national gender pay gap in Australia in 2025, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, is sitting at 11.5 per cent.

It was found in May 2025 that the average ordinary weekly earnings across all industries for men was $2106.40 a week, compared to $1864.10 for women.

On average, for every dollar a man makes, a woman earns 88 cents.

Women are bringing home $242.40 less than men a week, and that difference adds up to a confronting $12,600 per year.

Not to mention that, according to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, in the private sector, women are earning 21.8 per cent less than men.

Over an entire year, that adds up to almost $30,000, and means women are earning 78 cents for every dollar a man is making in 2025.

Therefore, if men and women are splitting dates 50/50 it isn’t actually fair, because men are still earning more money and it is just putting women further out of pocket.

If you really wanted to be fair, men should be covering at least an extra 11 per cent of the bill, but that really isn’t going to make up for the fact they’re also going to earn substantially more over their lifetimes.

It seems to me that men paying on the first date can be the least they can do, considering the gender pay gap is still raging.

Originally published as ‘I’d be offended’: Trend exposes that Gen Z are embracing traditional gender norm