I’ve noticed an uptick in women holding progressive views when it comes to their own development—such as their education level and career prospects—but still expecting men to initiate first, pay for the first date, and perform various chivalrous acts.

Arguments like “princess treatment” and serenading women as a form of romance—requesting this in 2026? Are you serious? Women aged 18–34, listen up, are you listening? You can’t champion non-traditional values on one end and disregard them on the other. You can’t disguise buying flowers, men paying on first dates, serenading, and having to approach first as progressive romantic gestures when they simply aren’t. These acts are through and through patriarchal, and the quicker you understand this, the better off we’ll all be.

I get it—these gestures have persisted for generations, but they mostly belonged to our grandparents’ day and age, back when women didn’t have bank accounts and often had to marry for survival. We are long past those days, thanks largely to the feminist movement. The things you look for in men have to align with the current cultural landscape. Since most modern women no longer adhere to traditional roles, we as men agree that we shouldn’t judge you based on your previous sexual partner count, your focus on career, or your education—and that those things shouldn’t matter as much. But we’ll be damned if we’re expected to maintain old-school romantic gestures while women continue to embrace non-traditional attitudes.

Men in 2026 don’t approach as much, prefer to split bills 50/50, don’t bring flowers on first dates, and don’t serenade as often—not because we don’t care, but because the culture around these things has simply shifted. When we point this out, we often get called “gay,” “zesty,” or “feminine” mostly by 20 something year old women . So much for progressivism—especially when it throws the LGBTQ community under the bus.

If you want those traditional romantic gestures, you have to participate in those same traditional values yourself. But most modern women don’t, so modern men don’t either. And yes, men approaching women first is traditional—just like men getting down on one knee to propose is traditional. When women have proposed to men, we’ve seen women on TikTok making hateful videos about them. This is how society is heading, and it’s long overdue. If you want men to return to traditional romantic gestures toward women, then you must undo 65 years of feminist progress—which is nearly impossible at this point.