Chivalry? What's that?

DRAMA ALERT...Ok so recently I've managed to get myself into a relationship with this really awesome girl and that is the basis for this post...END DRAMA.

Let us look at the 20th Century. A lot went on. Two world wars, the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, the birth of communism, equality among races in the U.S. and let's not forget the biggest push for women's rights. Ah yes...women's rights...quite the milestone in this nation's history.

First I must say that I am in total agreement that women should have the rights that they have been so successful in aquiring. With this great advancement, however, also came a boom of women's independence and here is where I fastforward to today, the new millenium. In terms of women's independence at this point, women pay for themselves, they open the door for themselves, they put on and remove their jackets by themselves, they pull out and push in their chairs by themselves, they speak for themselves, about the only thing they seem uncapable/unwilling to do on their own anymore is give themselves a shoulder massage.

Some guys see no problem with any of this and if they do, they wish that women could, in fact, give theirselves a shoulder massage; it's one less thing we men have to do! I am not one such guy, and as my good friend and roomate, Rich, has proven: I am not alone. I try to pay for my girlfriend, but it is like trying to pull teeth to do it. Offering to pay is almost like offering to kill someone it seems. "No" is always the answer. My response to this was, "Don't tell me. You're-" "Yes, independent," she said. I recall opening the door for her for the first time and how I got that stunned look that says, "You're weird." I dare not even try to bring up that I'm just being chivalrous because I doubt her or half the female population would really understand what that means. One dictionary definition simply states that chivalry is "courtesy towards women."

So to break that down, for a man to be chivalrous is simply to show respect for a woman. Do women not realize that by being "independent" they shut us men out from showing them the respect we believe they deserve? There needs to be some correction here. There are times when I miss the Middle Ages!