Chivalry is Finally Dead.

I recently stumbled across an article by John Puccio on Elite Daily, The Voice of Generation Y, titled “Why Chivalry is Dead, From a Man’s Perspective.” This article was bemoaning the fact that chivalry no longer exists in our society. All I could think was: good. I’m glad chivalry is dead. Chivalry stems from an entirely sexist mentality, i.e. women are not equal, women can’t provide for themselves, they are too fragile and weak and they belong in the home raising children and serving their bread-winning husbands.

John Puccio, who is also the founder of the website datingsagame.com, discussed how he was raised to open doors for his female counterparts, pull out chairs, pay for meals and treat them like “ladies”. He claims that dating is now passé and has been replaced by casual “hook ups” and drinks at the bar, because all men really want is sex, so they skip the fancy “get to know each other” routines of the past and get down and dirty.

He writes that “The real problem here is that women, for one reason or another, have become complacent and allowed men to get away with adhering to the bare minimum.” And that eventually, “women will wise up and start asking for the things that they deserve.” The irony is that women have been asking for the equality they deserve for hundreds of years, and they almost have it, no thanks to sexist males like the author himself.

There is nothing wrong with holding doors, or pulling out chairs, or even paying for dinner, but it’s the intentions behind these actions and what they are insinuating about women that are the real problem.

So I am glad chivalry is dead.

I believe in common courtesy. I believe in holding the door for whoever is walking through it. I believe in pulling out chairs, when the situation calls for it. I believe in helping people carry heavy objects, if they need help. Regardless of their sex.

I am soon to be married, so the question of who picks up the tab will be irrelevant; however, when dating, my fiancée and I always looked at it from a financial stand point. Who had the money? Sometimes it was me, sometimes it was her. It came down to who had picked up the most shifts on the previous pay check, because we both worked for the same minimum wage.

Puccio ends his article by stating that until women start demanding what they deserve, “men are going to get away with putting in the bare minimum and receiving what we ultimately want anyway – sex.” To claim that men are only after sex and that women put out because they really don’t think they deserve any better is asinine to say the least and only goes to further the notion that women are but feeble creatures and we as men need to be the one to take initiatives. Women have a sex drive and should not be shamed for it, and furthermore as equals they can make the decision to engage in whatever activities they want.

Finally, I want to acknowledge the ridiculousness of a man telling women what they want. Men have dictated how women should act and told women what they should want for millions of years. It’s time we listen to what women are saying.