So, who should pay this time? Should we split it? Me this time and you next time? The “money” questions never fail to arise within relationships, whether romantic or not. Finances evidently control the modern-day world that we live in. Anticipating actions and provoking emotions is the underlying blueprint that money follows. Everything comes with a price, but what is the true price placed on relationships, or better yet, gender?
In my experience, money is rarely an issue in my platonic relationships, such as those with my best friends or family. Paying for my friend’s dinner or loaning my siblings some money for odds and ends is never problematic and asking for said money is not ever viewed as disrespectful or wrong because it’s coming from those who care. In these relationships, money is basically just money, no if’s and’s or but’s about it.
However, I have noticed that when it comes to romantic relationships, money is often the monster hiding under the bed. In young adult years and an evolving modern world, is it still acceptable to say that because a man didn’t pay for dinner, he’s disrespectful? Or is it more respectful to assume that the woman he is with can pay for her meal and another’s?
The daunting question lingers above all relationships, who’s the breadwinner? But why is THAT the question? Gender, as much as it is linked to money and as favoring as it is towards men, is slowly becoming more equal. As more and more women match their partner’s paychecks, gender becomes priceless.