When our communities sustain an environment that doesn’t allow for any interaction between the two sexes, we are ultimately causing boys and girls to be so completely uncomfortable with each other that the only method that allows them some level of productive interaction is when they’re huddled in the parents’ dining room, with their parents with them.
We continue this trend even once they’re engaged: We discourage too much interaction between them, limit how often they can see each other, and then force an exuberant wedding on them so they don’t have to focus on each other, but rather, the beautiful venue, food, flowers, and untold amounts of needless gashmius. We then continue to distract them from each other for the next week with Sheva Brachos, until finally, reality sets in, and they’re forced to learn how to interact and live together. For some, it’s too late.