As a man, I do not feel compelled to take women on expensive dinner dates as a means to equalize the gender pay gap. Using men for their money doesn't fix the gender pay gap. Instead, it justifies it. Again, if you're paying $350 in salon appointments to prepare for a routine dinner date, that's on you. In fact, such an extravagance is not going to earn you much empathy from me with regards to cost of living that women experience.

I totally get that social norms dictate that men bear more of the cost of dating. What you describe here is way beyond that.

Note: I would never take a date to McDonalds. That is absurd.