Characters
If you don’t kiss a girl on the first date, you’re a gentleman. If you don’t kiss her on the second date, you’re gay!
— Richard ‧ Ally McBeal
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The speaker jokes that a man is caught in a trap on early dates: holding back on the first is respectable, but holding back on the second supposedly invites doubt about his sexuality. The humour rests on a prejudiced assumption and on the idea that courtship expectations shift unfairly.
Context reviewed