How do you feel about chivalry? Is it dead? Should it be? In this age of feminism, how many women would really prefer that men acted as gentlemen and treated us as ladies? Do we really want a society where women are treated no differently than men? I don’t.
We talk about being colorblind as a society and that’s a good thing, but must we also be gender-blind? Of course, I do want all people to be treated with respect and dignity, but this politically correct nonsense has gone too far if you ask me. Why should we pretend that everyone is exactly alike in every aspect when it couldn’t be further from the truth? We are uniquely and wonderfully different and I don’t want each person to blend with the next. I embrace individual identity.
I love being a woman. I love the differences between men and women and the way our strengths play off each other’s and the way we complement each other in physical, emotional, and logical ways. I love that my husband is stronger than I am (especially if we have a flat tire). I am fully capable of changing a tire and he knows it, but he wouldn’t think of letting me if he’s there. I for one like that.
I like having doors opened for me. I like the way he rests his hand on the small of my back and guides me through a doorway. I like it when he takes heavy stuff out of my hands and carries it, or meets me in the driveway to help me in with the groceries, or gets up to check out a noise in the middle of the night.
Let me make it clear that I am far from being a helpless woman. I can do any of the above and much more. However, I love having my husband beside me; helping me, caring for me, sharing with me. I do the same for him, and it seems to me that nature planned it that way.
Women should certainly be treated fairly. They should be paid the same for work that is of the same quality as that of anyone else in the same position. The bar shouldn’t be raised -nor lowered- for women. Yet, at the same time, that doesn’t mean we have to pretend to be just like men. It shouldn’t be a competition. Fairness can be obtained while retaining our identity as women, and while allowing men to retain their masculinity. That includes allowing those who choose to do so to be gentlemen.
Personally, I don’t think chivalry is dead, although it may need resuscitation.