Leave old-school chivalry to medieval knights. Unless you’re wearing tights and chainmail, you shouldn’t be abiding by centuries-old notions of how to treat a woman. (And if you are wearing tights and chainmail, please stop. It’s super-weird.) The trick to charming a modern-day lass is to bestow upon her a kind of new-school chivalry, in which you acknowledge your lady’s independence while also demonstrating that you know that good manners never go out of style with the gentler sex. Here’s how to kick it new school.
Old school: Insist on carrying all her belongings, no matter how light the load. And especially never her bag or purse.
New school: Offer to carry a heavy item up the stairs, or load her belongings into the car. As a rule, stuff-carrying is only appreciated when it helps her avoid unnecessary strain.
Old school: Insist she wear your coat as an extra layer of warmth, or even, sacrifice your coat to the puddle gods so she can avoid wetting her feet.
New school: Offer your coat or sweater if she says she’s cold, or it’s clear she is. But don’t insist.
Old school: Foot the bill for every date, and shower her with unnecessary gifts.
New school: Pay for dinner the first time, and then regularly — but not always — after that. Sometimes, go Dutch, or let her treat.
Old school: Expect a long period of celibacy at the beginning of the relationship.
New school: Be proactive about contraceptives, and make sure you’ve got a clean bill of health before getting into bed.
Image courtesy of h.koppdelaney.
I’m getting fairly annoyed with useless drivel like this from the dailyxy.com. Emails like this are sent for the sake of sending email and nothing more. If you’ve got something interesting or intelligent to send, please do. Otherwise, the “chivalrous” thing to do is to send nothing.
So basically guys – still be chivalrous, but don’t be a geek about it. The subtitles can also be “old school geeky way” and “new school normal/cool guy way” (jd)
Text messaging, FB, abbreviations and acronyms killed chivalry
What if she is a bitch? I am not kissing ass. Its what happended with the high rate of women that have mental disorders and think its ok to treat men like crap. Maybe its time for women to appreciate men as well. I do think it is a good point for common courtesy but only if the woman in point is actually deserving of it and some arent. So I wouldnt say this would apply to all women, only some.
What about holding doors open, helping her put on/take off her coat, etc? What a failure of a column.