Is chivalry dead?

Question

what happened to the old-fashioned gestures?
have manners gone out of business or they've just become gender neutral?

Answer 1

Not dead but probably dying. It is a rare man or woman that still has manners. But when we find them what a joy! When a man opens a door for me, or says please and thank you, it makes me smile. I just cant help myself. And the wonderful thing is it is contagious. As for it becoming gender neutral rudeness defiantly Chivalry, yes I believe so.
Lets here it for the man who still does all the little things!

Answer 2

I see a lot of the old-fashioned gesture. It usually involves the use of the middle finger. Chivalry may be a bit out of date, but good manners and civility should never be. Sometimes those knights in shining armor have feet of clay and a little rust. Gallant flourishes can be over done, but simple courtesy is always in style. I think that manners have become gender neutral. There is little difference any more between how most men and women speak or conduct themselves. This may be a product of our homogeneous culture that is shaped by movies, television and the media. I am no longer shocked when I walk down the hall of where I teach and hear students shout out swear words to each other, or see people wear t-shirts with obscene messages in the supermarket. I try to make my children understand that good manners will set them apart. Unfortunately, it is hard to impress this on children when they constantly see adults behaving badly. Let's hope that manners don't go entirely out of business.

Answer 3

Not completely...yet. Yesterday, I was carrying a box to my apartment, and this man that I didn't know opened the door for me and carried the box up the stairs. What a nice guy! I walked inside and told my friend that chivalry is not dead, though I was surprised. You don't find things like this often, but it still happens.

There was a poll on a local radio station about this subject. Out of 127 callers that were women, 109 of them said that they had been broken down on the side of the road at one point or another, and NOBODY stopped to help them. In the middle of the winter! This is very dissapointing, but with all the weirdos out there, I think people are scared to help out anymore. Or maybe with women wanting to be so "independant", maybe men think that we don't want their help.

Either way, I am touched when someone offers to help in any way, and I think there are some men who still feel that chilvalry is important.

Answer 4

I don't think chivalry is dead, it's just hiding in the closet! It is few and far between. I work with someone who will sometimes open the door for me and other times forgt I'm there.

Unfortunately, in this day and age no one seems to remember how to be polite, courteous, have manners, etc. And I'm talking about adults & kids! My friends daughter belches all the time, loudly I might add and never says excuse me. Sometimes she'll do it, I'll look at her and say "excuse you" and her response will either be laughter, snicker or "excuse me?" in the form of a question. And sometimes her father will tell her to say excuse me and other times he ignores it.

I am totally on my kid about having manners, being polite, courteous, if you're walking out a door and someone is walking in just about at the same time that you should hold the door for them rather than letter it slam in their face (like a lot of people do).

But like I said, chilvary is not completely dead, it's just hiding and once in a while a nice polite gentleman might surprise you and hold the door for you! :o)

Answer 5

Interesting question! I don't think chivalry is really dead...there are quite a few guys out there who are more than willing to hold the door open for you and pull out the chair for you. However, unfortunately a lot of these younger fellas aren't learning these types of gestures anymore (at home). When a man calls a woman a b i t c h, then he really is dead [himself] to chivalry.

I also think that the gender neutral thing plays a part in it; a lot of independent women these days don't want a man to do those gestures for them. Why, I'm not really sure? Sometimes they (women) become offended...

However, as far as being dead...nah, you just have to find the right gentleman. I have one who would go to the end of the earth for me, even if it's just me asking him to do it. He holds my doors open, pulls my chair out for me, let's me have first pick at everything; he even wants to support me and our future children, with me not having to work. Granted, I do want to join the air force before we have children, I can't live without working...yet, as I said, his offer in itself was very sweet!

He's very protective of me and I know he will be very PROTECTIVE over our future children. I don't know where he learned all this; he didn't grow up with a father, then he joined the military...not sure if that's where part of it comes from.

Answer 6

It is not necessarily dead...I still know a few people who still have good manners and right conduct.

It maybe though that it is no longer encouraged (or more bluntly enforced)...thus whether one becomes a well-mannered person thus becomes a real choice on his/her part. With this lack of manners encouragement/enforcement plus the current trends in pop culture, the chances of you finding such a well-mannered person becomes slimmer and slimmer.

Answer 7

Fact from fiction, truth from diction. Chivalry is not dead.Most of the time it is hijacked by feminist and the other time ignored. People do not recognize true chivalry because the generations raised in a neuter society, they wouldnot know it from general politness unless they watched old movies(and they don't)

I hold the door open for women, slightly more than men, but I hold the door for anyone behind me. Many times I would hold back from offering a woman my seat on the commute train or connecting shuttle because there are times women get offended. As if you are acting condescending to them. Saying they are weak and not as capabile or have the same ability. So, there are times I COULD be chivarous, help a gal with car trouble or a flat. But if she do not think you are making her small, she think your angle for helping her is to try to get next to her. Get a date or the digets or something. I think more men(but stiill way too few)would be chivarous but with out the ability to read minds, many chances to be are lost. These days you just can't assume. How would you think a Hispanic man would feel if he was leaving the home supply store with a small tree to give his mother and someone in the parking lot ASSUME he his a gardener and starts peppering him with guestions on how to make ficus grow better. These days you can not assume every woman wants someone opening thier door, offering to carry their package(they might even suspect you are trying to rip them off by dashig off with it)any more than you can assume every Hispanic male you don't see in a 3 piece suit is a gardner of the pool boy.

And many of the girls growing up today watching hip hop video and such, surely has never seen chivalry and if they did. it was make to be the action of poo butts and suckers. So, I am sure they do not understand it. And many of them(from what I met)think most that they can do everything for themselves.

Chivalry is not dead, it has just been hijack to an alley, butalized and beaten.

Why do peeps keep commenting on what you are wearing or not wearing? *shoulder shrug*

Answer 8

Nope, manners have gone out of business, shut down, kicked out, etc... Chivalry, and just a general niceness, is out of fashion these days. But when I do get a door opened for me or a sincere "thank you", it certainly brightens my day.

Answer 9

I'm ever grateful to my parents for raising me to be a courteous, considerate and caring individual. My father also instilled in me the time honored traditions of defending and watching out for those in need of defense, regardless of sex. I will always go out of my way to escort a woman coworker to the parking deck, for example. I never hesitate to hold a door for the person behind me, regardless of who or which sex, but I always offer to hold the door for a woman regardless. That is good manners according to how I was raised, and I do not see it as chauvinistic in any way.

I am an intelligent, progressive minded man with a good heart, and how I choose to conduct myself in daily life as a courteous and polite individual -- as a gentleman -- is not a matter for debate for me.

So, yes, sometimes I get an odd or curt word from some perhaps misguided or whatever person when I hold the door, the elevator, offer to let someone go ahead of me, merge into my lane in traffic and countless other normal typical daily things,

but

99.9% of all others always appreciate such simple common courtesies,

and

I am not ever going to warp myself to try to suit some one's version of this fifteen minutes' PC codes.

I prefer to be a sensible man, and a gentleman.

So, next time someone holds the door, lets you go first, merge into your lane, walk you out to your car, whatever, be glad there are still people who care, and smile.

It doesn't cost you anything, it's for free and it's nice.

Answer 10

How can chivalry be alive when you see young girls and women walking down the street with their bellies hanging over the pants, some so far down that you can almost see the pubic hairs! This is fashion? If these people only knew what they really looked like.

Of course it isn't quite as simple as that. It seems now that women have achieved equality, they don't know what to do with it.
I have always had independent thinking and I certainly don't need society to tell me I can be equal to a man.
We are equal yes, as humans, but as far as the sexes go, we are not.

Chivalry is still around and a man who treats me like a woman will always have my vote.