Fascinating stuff. True too, at least from this readers perspective.

To add a bit more to your Texas analysis, I think many other countries fall into similar ways of 'protecting' their women.

In my Latin world, in the fifties it would not have been a stretch to say that if you ogled another mans woman could've ended up with bullets flying. This has lessened over the years but still pays to watch ones behavior.

I've always sensed that men who want to get into fisticuffs because another man said nice things about his wife or girl friend were lacking in something.

Seems to me that if done in good taste it can be a win win. Hosting a gala event for a customer of mine in our hotel upon being introduced to his stunning wife I gushed. It was a calculated thing in part, other wise it was spontaneous. The man took it very well, his wife graced me with a smile that after twenty years I still recall!

Oh well, maybe there's no set rule here. I can imagine what some might say, but be that as...