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PaperclipPerfector  11hr ago (text post)   303 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 8, 2026

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What's the explanation for (American middle class & PMC white) women wanting to embarrass their sons for dating? I thought this was some weird Boomer thing, but now I see some of my last Xer/first millennial female cohort doing the same with their sons.

I remember as a teen the general societal meme about wanting to embarrass sons on prom night and then my Boomer mom and aunts doing the "OOOOH iS sHe YoUr gIrLFrieNd???" thing after about age 8 any time I mentioned a girl's name, but my dad and uncles never did any of that stuff. That kind of behavior was never directed at daughters from what I could see.

Among my cohort, I can see the following occurring: for daughters, both parents are deeply concerned about protecting their daughters from the cads of the world. For sons, the fathers are doing their best to prepare their sons in ways the fathers think will help their sons be successful at dating. For sons, however, the mothers are doing the same "we must embarrass him at every opportunity about dating," cackling about collecting awkward photographs to display any time he brings a girl home, etc.

What's the explanation for (American middle class & PMC white) women wanting to embarrass their sons for dating?

Easy to understand. They do not want some wily vixen seduce Junior and drag him away, leaving them all alone in the big house.

I think it's just teasing out some emotions out of them. Men, and teens, don't like to share their emotions. Women are the opposite on that. A well-adjusted teen typically won't share much with his mother, but early romantic/sexual experiences are a uniquely vulnerable point for men. It might even serve a societal function, maybe an attentive mother might uncover a psycopathic tendancy if the reaction from her son is unusually muted or violent.

Men, and teens, don't like to share their emotions.

Correction: Men and teens don't like to share their emotions in female-typical and approved way.

Get men together in a suitable context and they will share freely enough emotions but it won't be the same way women stereotypically do so.

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