man date

i’ve always thought it unfair that women can get together one on one, going out to the movies or a nice dinner or just somewhere to talk, but men cannot do the same with each other without people thinking that they are gay. not that there is anything wrong with that, believe you me. but it’s irritating for anyone to have strangers make assumptions about their sexual orientation based on something that has absolutely no connection to sexual orientation.

actually, men get the shaft in numerous ways — for instance, us chicks can wear skirts, dresses, pants, shorts, capris… you name it. any color, any style. guys can wear… well, pants or shorts. limited colors. they can accessorize with a necktie! woohoo!

anyway, i digress. the new york times ran an article about the phenomenon known as the “man date.” read on:

Simply defined, a man date is two heterosexual men socializing without the crutch of business or sports. It is two guys meeting for the kind of outing a straight man might reasonably arrange with a woman. Dining together across a table without the aid of a television is a man date; eating at a bar is not. Taking a walk in the park together is a man date; going for a jog is not. 

and, “When attending a movie together — preferably with explosions or heavy special effects, never a romantic comedy — guys prefer to put a nice big seat between each other.” we saw this demonstrated quite nicely last night when we went to see star wars iii, revenge of the sith (that movie is another story for another post). the two guys sitting in front of us were obviously friends and had come together, but left a seat between them. they were sharing a gigantic super-coronary-sized tub of popcorn, but didn’t put it on the seat in the middle, probably out of fear that their hands might meet in the tub. they instead passed it back and forth at intervals.