Editor, Daily Nexus:

After reading Daniel Okamura’s column (Daily Nexus, "Courtship Lacks Honesty," Feb. 12), I have come to realize the error of my ways.

In my time here at UCSB, I have opened doors for many women thinking that I was being friendly and polite. However, according to Daniel Okamura, I was actually unknowingly promoting a sexist agenda. I would just like to apologize to all the women I have opened doors for; I did not intend to offend them with such a sexist act.

It seems that some people have very different interpretations of the simple act of opening a door for someone who happens to be of the opposite sex. The reader may need to excuse my outdated convictions for the moment, but I happen to believe that the act of a man opening a door for a woman, or anyone opening a door for anyone else, happens to be a nice thing to do. And I believe that this act of politeness can be accomplished without implying any deeper meanings about gender relations and which is the weaker sex.

It is of course true, as Daniel says, that opening a door for a woman is a "relic of a sexist society that felt that physical activity wasn’t a woman’s place because they were the ‘weaker sex.’ " However, the fact remains today that this act is simply one of common courtesy and usually harbors no sexist sentiment on the part of people who participate in it. If one really wanted to promote a sexist agenda, I sincerely doubt he/she would do so by opening doors for people. So please, don’t accost guys who are just trying to do something nice.

Not to mention, there are many real and important sexist things in our society that do need fixing. Let’s worry about something more important than opening doors.

JUSTIN K. REPP