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UK: How the PC brigade are killing off chivalry
Submitted by anthony on Tue, 2008-09-16 13:44
Article here. Excerpt:
'According to Debrett's, the bible of etiquette, political correctness is slowly strangling chivalry.
...
'Of course women don't need men to open doors. But at the same time, a little bit of chivalry is nice - and people need help knowing how to strike the balance, because the boundaries have become blurred.'
'Help a woman with her heavy bags, offer her a seat on the train if she is elderly or pregnant, stand when she enters the room. These are good manners and should come out instinctively rather than contrived gestures that feel outdated and oppressive.'
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Comments
"...stand when she enters the room"
Sort of like what an enlisted man is supposed to do when an officer shows up, right?
If the PC Brigade kills off chivalry, it will be perhaps the truly one perfectly good thing that it can be said they have done.
The author of this article can go blow-dry her face.
The sooner chivalry is
The sooner chivalry is killed off the better. But it shouldn't be the PC brigade that kills it off, it should be men actively seeking to destroy it.
Ten-hut!!!
Men, stand at attention, there's a woman entering the room!
Live and Let Chivalry Die
This demand for more chivalry is another example of the hypocrisy of too many women. Chivalry needs to end. I am a considerate person, and will offer the same assistance to a man as I would a woman. A man should be not born in this world to be every woman's footman.
Notice that the author of this rubbish said nothing about what considerations women should give to men.
Equality
During college, I never got up when a female entered the bus. At least three guys jumped up, eager to give up their seat. Most of the girls were very thankful and appreciative, but every now and then you'd get the entitled princess who says a quick thanks and sits down. I got many dirty looks from those types when I was one of the only guys to not give up my seat. Hey, if you're as strong as a man, you can stand for 30 seconds.
I'm taking a literature
I'm taking a literature course in college this semester called "Comedy and Romance in the Middle Ages," and although we haven't read too much yet, I am already astounded by what we have read, so far as what was considered "courtly" romance. In general, both the men and women of these tales act completely irrationally, which may be part of the point.... But something else that stands out to me is the way the men (either vassals or kings) in these stories are always portrayed as being completely self-sacrificing for the women they love. Certainly, the women characters do their own fair share of suffering (because love is supposed to be suffering for everyone involved in these stories) but they don't have the same expectation of sacrifice as the courtly vassals do. And rarely is a woman portrayed as being evil, the way many of the husbands are (husbands are bad, the knight lovers are good).
Anyway, I admire old-fashioned chivalry because I think manners in general is admirable. But I don't think it should only be expected of men or expected more of them, toward women.
And just as an aside, the primary reason I chose this lit course is not because I have any interest in the romance itself but because I'm a King Arthur buff (not so much for Guinevere) and because I really enjoy medieval friendship between men.