My 13-year-old son attended a writing workshop last week. When I went to pick him up, and peeked into the classroom, I noticed that he was at a table full of girls around his age. So, a bit later in the car, I teased him a little. “I see you were sitting with all the cute girls.” I expected some sort of bashful reply, but heard this instead: “That’s kind of creepy.” “Creepy? Why?” I asked. “A grown man shouldn’t be calling teenage girls cute,” he explained. Yes, he has a point, I guess. Men have to be careful with their adjectives. Women can say whatever they want about kids, especially girls: “Your daughter is so beautiful!” or “That blouse looks great on her.” No, men can’t say those things for fear of it being misconstrued/Idaho Dad, A Family Runs Through It. More here.

Question: Is Idaho Dad right -- that women can say pretty much what they want about the aethetics of the opposite sex, no matter what the age, while men'd better hold their tongue?