I'd think he's either from a place where arranged marriages happen OR he's REALLY got to grab his nuts and man up.
Not that I don't think the parental units opinion isn't important. Hell, if my mother doesn't like you, there's a pretty fair chance that after I see you naked a few times, you'll be hitting the road faster than Jack.
AFTER I see you naked, that is.
Then again, this begs the question, are we talking about something like that MTV show where the parents screened and interviewed folks and then submitted their best picks for him to date? Or is this one of those cases where the guy picks his women and then if his parents don't like them, they're out the door? While the former would be pretty horridly terribly ridiculous, the latter isn't so bad. I mean, if the future significant other can't make it into the Focker Circle of Trust, then what's the point?
What you seem to be asking about is why won't this dude just date who he wants (which is probably you) instead of being influenced by his parents. Which would be a good question except why would you want to date somebody who didn't give a sh*t about what the two most important people in his life think? I agree they shouldn't be making the final decision on who he walks down the aisle with but I can't find fault with him taking their advice into consideration.
A lot of people do that indirectly anyway. There is always an approval process that every couple goes through with their respective family members. It's just not so black-and-white.
Of course, there's always a way around this. Give him some lovin' so good that he doesn't care what anybody thinks. That usually does the trick or at least its what 95 percent of all Lifetime Movies are based upon.
It was written.
He WANTS his parents to decide?
Dump him! I mean seriously grow a pair and make decisions for yourself man.
BFF I like your thinking / written
girl get a man who can own up and think for himself, until he is mature enough to do so there's more likely to be problems in your future together...
I really like this answer.
It covers the bases well.
Also, there are still many religions that invoke parental involvement to varying degrees, especially the more "fundamental" you get. Even in the USA there are groups that still practice arranged marriages. Even amongst more "liberal" Christian groups, it's not uncommon to see men who will not marry without parental approval from both sets of parents.
Amongst younger men, especially teens, this often follows into not dating without parental approval also.
As to "manning up", I agree that the man should be able to make his own choices, but BFF is right, if the mom doesn't like you, it's not very likely this is going to go very well.
WTF, is this guy Amish or something? Sheesh.
Huge difference between parental approval and parents choosing your mate. Huge. If you want his parents involved in every decision you make with this guy as long as you are together, sure, go for it. That won't get old at all.
This would be a red flag even if the guy were 18. At 28, it means run for your life.