Butchering "Dates"

From Thumos:

This curious piece in the New York Times "Fashion and Style" section last weekend: "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. Attending the movie 'Friday Night Lights' is a man date, but going to see the Jets play is definitely not. "

We're not sure how to construe this piece of man crap. The word "date" typically, though concededly not necessarily, entails a social engagement between the opposite sexes. Why is the New York Times making outings between two men appear effeminate? Maybe it's trying to turn these men into decoys so gay bashers won't know who are the straights and who are the gays. Or maybe the Times really thinks it has stumbled across a unique phenomenon among heterosexual men, one that doesn't date back to Socrates at the Agora (oh wait, bad example).

But here's our biggest concern: The examples they site of activities that don't count as "man dates" because they're too manly--going to bars, exercising together, and attending sporting events--were three staples in Eric Scheske's courtship of his wife. Any chance he married a lesbian? The New York Times has him quivering.

And he suspects he'll be sleeping on the porch tonight.