Socialization

Erik Barzeski defends practices that he believes in against the claim of gender inequity:

I believe paying for a date is the responsibility of the guy, and again a show of politeness, and will do so unless the woman suggest she pay for half.

Erik goes on to list half a dozen other things that men should do for women to show "politeness" or "respect". But Erik, who determines what is polite and what is respectful? It is the society which you freely admit suffers from a lack of gender equity. If you want to justify your practices, then you will have to come up with a better method than using the social norms of politeness and respect.

I'm not saying I disagree with everything Erik says (although I do disagree with the above quote), I'm just saying that something more than the self-fulfilling truths of social norms is required to prove your point.