I think that this may be a repeat thread, but I can't remember. Besides, we don't have any active sexism threads right now.

So, what are your feelings about chivalry. I have just gotten back from the land of chivalry, and it is a very nice thing, I think. I just got back from a Mormon trek, where we are like pioneers, handcarts and all. In our group there were six and six. Six boys, six girls, and the boys were so chivalrous, it was gorgeous.

I didn't think it was sexist, but we were all Mormons, and Mormons are big supporters of traditional femininity. Boys are expected to respect womanhood, and it's an important thing to the priesthood. It's even in the pledge. I will respect women and girls.

What are your ideas about chivalry?

What do you think?

It's chivalrous to beat the crap out of anyone that looks at your woman. Or at least challenge him to a duel.

My opinion? I believe that everyone should just be courteous to each other. Think about how much nicer it would be if everytime youwere carrying a bunch of stuff, there was someone willing to open the door for you, or even offer to help you carry it. Imagine if everytime you dropped all your books in the hallway, there was someone willing to help you pick them up.

I don't get offended if someone offers to help me...I just make sure that I return the favor the next time I see someone who could use it.

Hold open doors for the elderly always.

It's sad to say, but must in fact be said, that very few men/guys/boys/members of the opposite sex from women know very little or NOTHING about chivalry.

If men/guys/you get it...now-a-days don't know anything about chivalry, than it is hard to say whether or not it is sexist or not because it hardly exists anymore anyways.

Plus, it's hard to place an exact definition on the word "chivalry" and what constitutes as "chivalry".

Now, this is a TAD bit off subject, but I find this quite interesting: in the European/western cultures, women are discriminated against because they are viewed as weaker than the men and of little use other than sex, children for work/inheritance and cleaning, cooking and keeping house. BUT, in the Middle East, women are discriminated against because they are seen as creatures of such seduction, that they must be covered up to keep from distracting the men.

Interesting how the cultures vary, and yet, women are STILL the prime subjects of discrimination, huh?

quote:

Originally posted by Apology:
I don't know, do you think it has to do with race?

In a way, yes. The minorities at my school - for the most part - are more polite than the white boys. Now I know that's a stereotype and there are also negative stereotypes of minorities that would disprove that.

So it could be because more minorities are raised to be polite due to the history of their race.

And it also depends on where you live/were brought up in, as I was saying before. Eutrepe agreed with me that you're more likely to find a chivalrous guy in the south than in the north.

I think chivalry is a good thing, but I hate when people use it as an excuse to demean women, in which case they aren't really being chivalrous.. AN example of that would be if a man and women were in a competion and the man stopped and 'let her win because she was a woman'. Grr... I HATE stuff like that!

I am not trying to sound like my boyfriend this, my boyfriend that. However, my boyfriend was taught to respect women/young ladies. He isn't prefect, believe I know, "rolls eyes" but all in all, he is pretty chivalrous.

He is African American, do you think it has to do with race?

I don't think it has to do with race. It has to do with how you are raised to view woman/young ladies. It also has to do with who you are. If a guy views ladies as only for sexual pleasure then most likely, they won't respect them. If a guy is rude and disrespectful then they might not have a lot of chivalrous behavior.

I don't know, do you think it has to do with race?

When I go out on a date with my boyfriend, he doesn't want me to pay for anything, is that chivalrous behavior? Then again, my boyfriend hasen't took me on a real date in months. Is that not chivalrous behavior?

I like chivalry, it makes me feel special. I don't think it's sexist. I would hold the door for people both guys and girls. If my boyfriend let me pay, I would pay sometimes. I don't mind doing that and I don't mind people dping that for me. It shows we respect one another.

quote:

Originally posted by AMF8:
guys dont make it seem like places south of the mason-dixon line are progressive civilized utopias

yes down in the south the boys may be more chivalric, but dont make it seem like the northerners are barbaric....

I didn't mean it that way. I'm merely saying that more Southern boys are taught chivalry for the sake of courtesy than Northern boys.

quote:

Originally posted by hubbabaloo:
I think that this may be a repeat thread, but I can't remember. Besides, we don't have any active sexism threads right now.

So, what are your feelings about chivalry. I have just gotten back from the land of chivalry, and it is a very nice thing, I think. I just got back from a Mormon trek, where we are like pioneers, handcarts and all. In our group there were six and six. Six boys, six girls, and the boys were so chivalrous, it was gorgeous.

I didn't think it was sexist, but we were all Mormons, and Mormons are big supporters of traditional femininity. Boys are expected to respect womanhood, and it's an important thing to the priesthood. It's even in the pledge. I will respect women and girls.

What are your ideas about chivalry?

What do you think?

My view is as follows: Assume chivalry; if a woman doesn't appreciate the gesture, she will tell you so (politely, if she's worth your time) and/or take care of herself.

Chivalry is not sexist, it's courteous. Chauvinism is sexist. Chivalry is holding the door open for the sake of being nice. Chauvinism is holding the door open because the woman is too weak to possibly open such a heavy door on her own.

I didn't mean to, AMF, if you were referring to my post.

I've barely been outside of NC so I wouldn't even know what other guys are like. I just know that most (if not all) of the guys I know are pretty chivalrous most (if not all) of the time.

guys dont make it seem like places south of the mason-dixon line are progressive civilized utopias

yes down in the south the boys may be more chivalric, but dont make it seem like the northerners are barbaric....

quote:

Originally posted by WorthWaitingFor:
Ahem. I am from the South. Not the Deep South. But still, the South.

Boys and men alike are expected to be chivalrous and to respect women. It is a given. A guy may hate your guts but he will not lay a hand on you and he knows he will get his pecker wacked off by another guy if he does. That's just the way it is.

I've grown up with guys opening doors, offering to carry things for me, and doing the manual labor. Not that I haven't pitched in but more often than not, I am banished to the easier tasks. Which is perfectly fine with me; it doesn't bother me at all to do easy things while I watch the guys sweat it out.

They know that women can do what they do but they choose to do it for them and most of the women here appreciate it and even expect it.

Not that we will flip out if the guy forgets to pull out our chair - we're not the Southern belles from Gone With the Wind - but it's just unlikely that he will forget. You know?

Just another HUGE difference about life above the Dixie line. Men are not expected to be chivalrous here, nor are they taught that (for the most part) by their parents.

Just another example perhaps of how common courtesy just really isn't common.

I'm from way up north in Seattle, so we have a lot of feminist wackos up here, and I can really tell the difference between gentlemen and boys. I'm homeschooled, and my brothers, one being a partaker of that oathe I spoke of earlier, and the other going to be starting in September, I have really grown around gentlemen. You can tell the difference. In fact, it saved my brother from inquiry once. In his school, there were some sexist things going on. In a pre-early college entrance school, there were sixteen students, and the feminists came to sort out the sexist issues, asked each girl individually what boys were sexist. They'd ask each one each boy specifically. When the feminists gave their anti-sexism talks to the boys, my brother was let free from the entire thing. They said that every single girl had said that he wasn't sexist. They had all said that he was really gentlemenly and carried things and opened doors, and was the farthest thing from sexist.

Ahem. I am from the South. Not the Deep South. But still, the South.

Boys and men alike are expected to be chivalrous and to respect women. It is a given. A guy may hate your guts but he will not lay a hand on you and he knows he will get his pecker wacked off by another guy if he does. That's just the way it is.

I've grown up with guys opening doors, offering to carry things for me, and doing the manual labor. Not that I haven't pitched in but more often than not, I am banished to the easier tasks. Which is perfectly fine with me; it doesn't bother me at all to do easy things while I watch the guys sweat it out.

They know that women can do what they do but they choose to do it for them and most of the women here appreciate it and even expect it.

Not that we will flip out if the guy forgets to pull out our chair - we're not the Southern belles from Gone With the Wind - but it's just unlikely that he will forget. You know?

quote:

Originally posted by ICELAND:
Chivalry=female virginity until marriage, marriage arranged by parents. In the good ol' chivalrous days they'd actually check to make sure the future daughter-in-law was "pure" before the marriage. And if she wasn't...she was considered worthless.

And just a random fact...chivalry comes from the french word "chevalier"...a chevalier is a knight, or more directly translated, a horse rider, since cheval is the word for horse.

Yeah, I know ICELAND, being the totally insane linguistic idiot I am.

However, chivalry has come to mean something totally different. And a being a virgin until marriage isn't a distasteful thing.

Chivalry came to mean the code of the chevaliers, or the Code of Chivalry, in which men were expected to respect women.

I think all guys should be chivalrous. Girls who tolerate guys how are rude to them are at fault for the decline of gentlemen in the world. I know personally, if a guy holds a door open for me, or offers to help me with something that he really isn't obligated to do, i will give him a second look. Now a days you see these so called "independent women" who mistake guys showing them respect and offering them a helping hand. They see it as the guys thinking they need help because they're "just female" when that isn't the case at all. Men should respect women, but women should respect a man being chivalrous.

Chivalry. As I roll the word around my tongue I have no feeling for it at all. Niether pleasure, nor distaste. I think it depends on the person. They can think it either absolutely wonderful, O.K., or dreadfully distasteful. I don't mind the ocational door opening, but I find it rude to simply leave it up to the man to do things considered polite.

Yes, I think being polite should not have to be distincly manly.I open doors for others, but that is how I was raised. If I want others to open doors for me I must open doors for them. Male, or female.

Ironically no. I've learned more from reading and watching movies on my own time than I ever have in school. I was the worst procrastinator in the world, and I got crappy grades for it. Stupid school.