Read this key passage from “Just Ask Him.” What is the best statement of the writer’s claim? One gender role has been slow to change, however: the idea that a woman ought not to ask a man out on a date. This deeply ingrained belief, held by young and old, perpetuates the notion that initiating a relationship is the sole domain of the male. It also fosters the idea that a woman should be a passive participant in her own romantic life, and that she is an object to be “chosen.” It ignores the progress society has made in equalizing gender roles.