Something as simple as holding a door open for a woman has suddenly become an uncertain endeavor that could just as easily elicit condemnation and accusations of bigotry and misogyny as it does a smile and warm “thank you.” As a result, many, if not by now most, men have given up on the practice altogether, leaving a great many more traditional women confused and even angry. So it’s become almost a catch-22 situation. Damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. What is Creator’s perspective?

We see there are multiple reasons for the coming and going of this former social norm, that men were expected to be gentlemen, to defer to females in certain situations, and to be protective, including acts of assistance that are a symbolic representation of male supremacy where greater capability is assumed, and women need to take a passive role because they need help to begin with and, being the weaker sex, so to speak, will appreciate having a door opened for them. So we see this as a social relic stemming from cultural norms of male dominance that were prettied up to have token gestures of respect built into the social norms like tipping one's hat to a lady, letting ladies go first, and so on. While these were seen to be well-meaning, and did, in fact, have positive influence on most females, who felt they were cared about and respected, they were also being conditioned to accept the role of being a less capable and weakened individual. This, of course, crossed into areas that were a physical reality. The saying, "It's so nice to have a man around the house," has a basis in reality when there is need for lifting a very heavy object or carrying out some other physical labor quite necessary to the comfort and welfare but which might be impossible for a female to handle on her own. So this is typical of many well-meaning but distortions nonetheless in cultural norms, that there is a basis in reality that males and females, biologically, have different strengths and weaknesses and can thus better fill some roles more than others, and this creates a complementarity when there is a coming together as a couple, because the formation of a partnership will truly cover the bases in most respects, depending on the individual makeup of each party, and that is a nice working relationship that is time-honored and part of Creator's Plan to help males and females fit together, in many respects, including their sexual needs and roles in reproduction. So we see these gestures as partially based on an exaggerated role modeling that can parallel things more harmful than good, but more meant to be a kind of moderating of extremes, a kind of virtue signaling that men are dutiful and appreciative of the "gentler sex," so-called, so it is a well-meaning moderation of male strength and potential for domination through force, and thus a harmless social lubrication to promote a friendly atmosphere. As such, its absence, if not replaced by something else, is a diminishment and not an advance in better human relations.