text: why do so few women say ''thank you'' when you hold a door open for them? this makes no sense to me.  it's just common courtesy to say "thank you" when somebody, male or female, holds a door open for you, rather than let it slam into your face.  i hold doors open for anyone who's a few steps behind me, whether they are male or female.  guys almost always say thanks, and women (particularly white ones) rarely do.  so what's the story?  please don't tell me that by saying thank you, it's an invitation to unwanted sexual advances, because that has to be the lamest copout for general rudeness and discourtesy on the planet.    and if you tell me that it's chauvinistic to hold a door open for a women, how can you explain the fact that guys hold doors open for each other all the time? well, i am a white woman, and i always say "thank you" when someone holds the door open for me.  the reason some do not is that they have no manners, plain and simple.