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Even if you're a ballin-out-of-control rap artist, ordering a meal for a lady is at best a little cocky, and at worst, completely sexist, it seems.

Novelist Zadie Smith was tasked with writing a profile of Jay-Z and the story of his fortune for the New York Times (read the wonderful profile here) .

But one little aside - the slight mention that he ordered her meal for her at at a "homey Italian restaurant" one night caused a feminist uprising in the blogopshere today.

"He likes to order for people….Apparently I look like the fish-sandwich type," Smith writes.

I get why Jay-Z did this - he's very much (in as much as anyone can tell about a celebrity whom they've never met) an "I got this" type of man. He's confident, he's got swagger, he's rolling in unimaginable wealth ($38 million in earnings, according to Forbes' list of Cash Kings).

He knows what's good here - and dammit, you'll order the fish sandwich.

Admittedly, this move when done the wrong way can be a deal breaker:  I never spoke to a date again after he ordered my wine and my meal (both were gross) without consulting me;  but this likely had to do with what happened at the end of dinner.  When the bill came, he asked for precisely half: $48.62. You can't be chivalrous and then turn politically correct when it's time to pay.

But Kat Stoffel over at New York Magazine was outraged by Hova's move, calling it a "questionable act of chilvary," likening Jay-Z's dinner behaviour to Don Draper's old-timey tricks.

"It's not that I wouldn't trust Jay-Z to pick something good for me," writes Stoffel, " it's just that I really value my right to choose what I eat."

"You only get so many meals in life," she argues. I totally agree. So why not let one of the world's biggest stars order one for you?  If I were sitting across the table from this hip-hop legend - spending his time so that I can get my story - yes, I would accept his offer and let the man order for me.

I'm certain Jay-Z picked up the cheque, and the fish sandwich was delicious.

Should men ever order their date's dinner? 

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