As a Russian and a western behavior types often don’t correspond each other there is a high probability of not understanding and confusion. A situation is seriously complicated if it goes about an American or a European man and a Ukrainian girl or woman. The most common stereotype a man may face in Russia or Ukraine is a concept of a ‘real gentleman’. This legendary figure has a high status in the eyes of women and is the same symbol of honor and nobility as, for example, a lord, a British bulldog, the Big Ben that are the symbols of Great Britain.

In Ukrainian society which is much more patriarchal than a western one, a ‘gentleman’ still exists. It is probably not the same as an ‘English gentleman’, but he can be still called a ‘gentleman’ or a ‘Russian gentleman’. Objectively, the majority of Ukrainian men behave much more as gentlemen in their attitude to girls and women than European and American men do. In Europe and the USA men are used to gentleman’s behavior which leads leading to a negative reaction from the side of modern independent woman.

If to take up a typical situation characteristic for dating industry in which a young man and a Ukrainian girl are acting, one can notice that a model of behavior which is good for Ukraine doesn’t work in Europe and in the USA.
A man and a Ukrainian girl meet in a café (they are just friends and there is no romance between them). In Ukraine a young man can acts in the following way: he will open a door for his female companion in a café and let her come in first, will help her take off her coat, ask her what she is going to drink, make an order and pay for her. Probably, the most important action in this situation is that a young man pays for a girl, other actions are not so important.

A European man will behave in a completely different way in this situation. If his companion came to his door first, a young man will rarely try to open a door for her, she will open it for herself. It is unlikely that a man will help his lady to take off her coat – she will do it by herself. A young man may order drinks and meals, but it happens not always. And in very rare cases he will pay for a girl. We see that a model of behavior of a western man is very different from the one in Ukraine, though situations are completely the same.

In the eyes of a Ukrainian woman a man has a definite role, a role of a man (a gentleman after the manner of Englishmen). One can say that his role is to dominate, because he takes up a leadership and helps a woman. A woman in Ukrainian society is usually in the role of a weaker one (at least, at the first sight and in similar situations). In other words, they want their men to be strong or, at least, seem to be strong.
In a cafe situation it is important that a man pays for his female companion. Traditionally (for example, within marriage) a man takes up a responsibility of a breadwinner and supports a woman materially. One may say that paying for a woman in a café a man feels himself a real man, because he plays a role of a breadwinner in some sense (though she is not his wife, just a friend). In other words, he shows that he is capable of playing his role - a role of a real man. The most interesting thing is that in the situation when a man pays for a girl she feels that she is in debt. And it differs much from a woman’s perception of the same situation in Europe and the USA.

Important: Money is a constant problem that any family faces, the same like love. How do Ukrainian brides treat money?