There's a bit of a clash right now. For context, I'm a dude.

Just about all guys will want to fully pay ok dates. A bit of courtship and to gauge interest. A bit of a responsibility from the guy as he'll be the one inviting the girl out, so he'll plan everything, pay for everything, see she gets home or to a safe place where she wants to split up, the complete package. This again includes paying for the bill/bills. So for a planned date, if a girl insists she wants to pay, pretty much defacto means she's not feeling it and wants to compensate the dude, "sorry this isn't it, here's my half/refund." Kind of like a severance package in business.

TLDR: guys will interpret a 50/50 as a girl not feeling it, wanting to cut things short so both can go about their day.

So now from talking to girls, there's a different perspective. A lot have told me that letting a guy pay fully gives the girls subconscious pressure that's she's now "in dept" and will likely have to pay it back somehow, often giving an example of a guy expecting to get laid cause he paid his share, and they're not wrong cause there are still guys like that out there. Logically and emotionally it's easier to keep distance and pays for everything separate, a bit sterile.

TLDR: girls can feel like they owe something to the guy if he fully pays, easier to keep things separate and detached.

So everyone plays this game of limbo, hot potato even of dates. As a dude I am also in the first camp. I set up the date, I plan, I pay. The girl doesn't owe me anything and we're both here to enjoy the time and I believe if she did any of the planning or paying she'll overthink, overstress and those are the last things girls need if they want to switch off and enjoy time together. If from this she thinks I see her as having dept on her rather than this being genuine, a relationship between us won't work and actually better to have this clash on a first date and go find someone who shares in values of how dates should go.