You probably already know this, but just in case you don’t, or haven’t articulated it to yourself, allow me to tell (remind?) you what’s beneath all the taking-less-seriously, etc.: TERROR. Pure terror. More males than either of us would like to know actually believe a time may be coming when for a man to even lift his eyes to meet a woman’s (except on her command) will be viewed as harassment! And of course, they haven’t a clue what to do about it except clamp down HARD!! Nor does it help that, especially in our common region (I live in Tennessee) men are expected to worship Momma even when, or perhaps especially when, she’s given her boys good reason to be terrified of her! I grew up in the Northeast, but my mom still gave me reason to be so. If you grew up terrified of your father, you needn’t imagine sitting on a lake of such emotional sludge, but if your dad didn’t terrify you, try imagining being terrified of your opposite-sex parent and feeling the ‘duty’ to venerate him/her at the same time. Even if you’re not taught that at home (and, to be fair, I wasn’t) that ‘tension’ is still in the ether, as is said. Think about it.