The Death of Chivalry

Chivalry is a dying art. The rampant decline of chivalry in the American culture is a natural result of the rise of radical feminism.

Chivalry was once a tradition that dictated how men would treat women, that being with respect, as they took upon themselves the duty to protect a woman's honor from any who would attempt to soil it.

Sounds like a fairytale world.

Well, once upon a time, the world was a different place. Same earth; same countries; different mentality.

Men would behave differently in the presence of a woman, curbing their speech, rising at her entrance, and such small niceties that showed a woman that she was seen as more than an object.

How far society has come since then. It now see's such respectful behavior as outdated.

With the rise of the women's movement in the 1920's, the world itself began to change. The changes were not only among women. Women created a barrier between themselves and the respect that once existed for their sex, by stating that they were to be treated no differently than anyone else.

The era of the fifty's maintained a sense of respectability of both sexes. Women pushed for better treatment. They received it in the work force; but in everyday life, they were and are treated poorly.

The problem does not exist in the attainment of equality. The problem arises from women curbing attempts by men to behave traditionally toward them.

But the problem lies with the men as well. Times change. Women have claimed their natural right of equality and denounced their  status as second-class citizens.

Men have, in theory, given in to women's demand for equal treatment. It gives them a way out, a reason for allowing respect and decency to sink to the bottom of the ocean floor.

But there must be some kind of compromise. Society seems unable to find the balance between treating women with a traditional respect and understanding that they are capable of self-management.

Because of the inability to compromise, traditional roles of manhood spiral downward.

The traditional roles and definitions of the sexes has changed so drastically that they are almost beyond recognition.

Chivalry once defined a man's role, revealing him as a person of respect in his own right. To defend a woman's honor was a high calling.

Now men are respected by their peers based on how much they get around. They are cheered on when telling friends how many women they "were with".

Women, for all their advances, are still in the same social state that they were in hundreds of years ago. They are denounced as whores for even looking at another man.

A recent trip to the movies proved this idea only too well. Much to my disgruntlement, the cussing and name calling from the people beside me (who in my mind, do not deserve to be called "men"), came at just the moment when a girl, left destitute of love, despairs and ends up kissing a mutual friend of the disgruntled lovers. The hoots of approval rang out when the guy walked around like a player, getting all the girls. Disgust was a natural reaction to this example of what society has become.

The problem is not with one or the other. Both are guilty of allowing it to become a problem. The question is, now that the problem is out in the open, what is to be done about it?