Blogpost 3: Feminism & Chivalry

"Chivalry is dead, feminists killed it!" 

"Chivalry isn't dead, but feminists are killing it!"

I found an article entitled, Emma Watson Said Feminism & Chivalry Aren't Mutually Exclusive. Here's Why She's Right. by Lulu Chang from the site Bustle. According to this article, there are two kinds of feminists. The first one is the feminist who believes in the equality of the genders (socially, economically, and politically). She believes that women should be entitled to the same salary, opportunity, education, and access as men. She also believes that gender equality has yet to be fully recognized. The other one is like a bad word because some people would cringe at it. This feminist is known to get offended if a man would be chivalrous towards her. Feminism is a word that has come a long way from back then. It became synonymous to proving a point. And it seems that we do not know what the point is anymore. But it's not really feminism. Feminism is not meant to be a barrier for either genders. It is meant to establish a mutual understanding for our humanity to function at its best. 

Lulu said, "So be a feminist. And be a recipient of the not-dead principle of chivalry. It doesn’t make you any less of an advocate for women." The other kind of feminism is the reason why some people are saying feminism killed chivalry.



I read another article entitled, Chivalry Must Die: On Women’s Expectations and Men’s Obligations by Abigail Collazo from the site Everyday Feminism. According to this, chivalry blankets itself as courtesy but it's actually sexist. Chivalry views women as fragile, needing men's protection and special treatment, putting women in a pedestal. The problem here is the power differential. Even though women are in a pedestal, it is the privilege of men that puts them there. These feminists prefer being nice regardless of the gender than men being chivalrous towards them.

Abigail said, "And that’s why chivalry needs to die.  A horrible, painful, loud and dramatic death is what I’m envisioning here.  Something fiery.  With an explosion of some sort.  Something where people say: what on earth was that?!" 

Blogpost 2: Is chivalry really dead?

Long ago was the time when Chivalry was a code of knights in order to create a safe environment for everyone. We no longer live in that time, and the change has been great. From order to attitude. We now know chivalry as gentlemanly acts (like opening and holding a door, offering a seat--usually towards women) that is said to be dying.

Is chivalry dead? Did feminism kill it? According to the article Chivalry is Dead? Ha! It’s Alive and Needed Now More Than Ever. by Eduardo Garcia from the site The Good Men Project, people are saying that chivalrous acts are seen less and less, and they blame feminism for it. This is because the gentlemen are being accused of being a chauvinist (a person displaying aggressive or exaggerated patriotism) or a misogynist (a person who dislikes, despises, or is strongly prejudiced against women) by some feminists. These accusations are based from their arguments stating that chivalry itself is an act of sexism due to it degrading women by helping them, implying that they are the weaker sex.

Eduardo said, “Should a man fear being a male chauvinist if he had the audacity to open a door for a lady? Is a man who offers his seat on a bus proving he is a misogynist pig? Have the ideals of gender equality trumped traditional civility?” This shouldn't be the case. Although some feminists see chivalry as an act of sexism itself, there are still people who appreciate it.

I read another article entitled, Chivalry isn't dead. It just looks different. by Jon Negroni from his website. According to this, people might be talking about the death of chivalry from the medieval times. They say chivalry is dead because some men are unwilling to do chivalrous acts, but these are still seen these days. It might be that it is just not as often as disrespect.

According to Jon, "I see chivalry everywhere. Not as much as I see disrespect, sadly. But I still see it when men ask a girl on a date face to face instead of texting her. I see it when someone opens a door for someone else, regardless of gender. And I see it when men don’t rush intimacy out of respect for the other person and themselves." Having read these two articles, we can conclude that people are talking about the death of chivalry from the medieval ages, and that chivalry may have evolved with the modern days. It is still there just not always in the same form. With this we can't really say that chivalry is dead... yet. 

Blogpost 1: Chivalrous Acts

"Ladies first," a classic gentleman's line. We've heard of this ever since we can remember. It was like a pick-up line that was known everywhere when the traditional chivalry was very much alive. These days it is not that popular. Some independent women might even raise their brows asking what did they do to deserve the special treatment. What are those special treatments?

An article entitled Practicality of Gentlemanly Acts by Eduardo Garcia from the site Gentlemenhood, states that chivalrous acts such as opening a door for a lady, walking a lady to her door, pulling out chairs, paying, helping a lady into and out of a car, offering a lady a jacket, and offering a lady a seat in public transportation, started from two reasons: the over-elaborate clothing of women used to wear and the role of men as bodyguards. Women used to wear huge skirts that made it difficult for them to reach the door's handle. This is why men hold doors for women, pull out chairs for them, and help them get in and out of the car. Also as bodyguards, when men open and hold the doors, they could scan or look into the environment keeping the women safe. The ladies can open and hold doors, pull out their own chairs, when a man offers or does it for her, this doesn't mean that she can't do it by herself. Chivalry is a tradition and we haven't totally gotten rid of it.

Eduardo said, "I know that most of the comments are based on how the lady is dressed, and you can simply say it’s her problem, that she chose to dress that way. You might think that it was her choice to wear heals, or a strapless dress, or short skirt. Yes, it was her decision. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be considerate." Although we no longer wear over-elaborated clothing and men are not really expected to act like bodyguards, we have to admit that chivalry is good and it wouldn't hurt to offer sincere gestures. The gentlemen were greatly appreciated before. Now they are rare because they are appreciated less.

According to the article Random Acts of "Knight"ness by Jessika Shanon from the site Chivalry Today, women should also respect chivalry. Even though women do not really need or want assistance, women are strong and independent, sometimes when men are being chivalrous towards them they feel like their independence is being taken away from them--the world without chivalry is unimaginable. Even chivalry starts with women. Mothers are the ones who teach their sons to treat girls respectfully. It is also important for them to teach their daughters to treat boys respectfully. There has been a mentality that because women were not treated equally in history, chivalry is a way to make up for their suffering and suppression. It's not supposed to be like that.

Jessika said, "Chivalry should be saved because it maintains a very respectable value system where people practice sincere gestures and random acts of kindness." I believe it is good and exists for good reason. Who wouldn't want sincere gestures? Isn't this worth saving? 

Having read these two articles, we can conclude that chivalrous acts such as opening and holding out doors for women, pulling their chair, offering seat to them in public transportation, offering them your jackets, helping them get in and out of the car--are sincere gestures. Chivalry doesn't mean that men see women as weak so they help them or that they owe them for things that happened in the past. It is simply respect and kindness that we should all gladly offer.