The Daily Mail has a post up for Valentines Day titled The new rules of chivalry: From who pays the bill to paying compliments etiquette expert William Hanson reveals the dos and don’ts for the confused modern man (and woman)
The goal is to update chivalry “with women earning more or less the same as men and same sex and trans couples”. As funny as that idea is, the chivalry it described from the past was hilarious (emphasis mine):
The classic chivalrous act was a man holding open a door for a woman so she didn’t have to break a sweat.
This was especially true in Victorian England when a couple arrived at an hotel with revolving push-doors, the man would enter first but go round twice to push the door round completely for the lady, and so she emerged into the room first.
Slightly less ridiculous was the ritual of men standing up whenever a woman arrived or left:
Traditionally, date or no date, when a woman left the dining table to freshen up, any men immediately around her would stand up or slightly rise from their chairs to acknowledge her departure – and then do the same when she returned.
But it was the comments that had the most humorous description of modern day chivalry. Commenter Amensis described how her boyfriend opens the car door for her so she can drive him wherever they are going:
Most of this is simple courtesy. I do like that my guy still opens my car door after 2 years. I misinterpreted it the first time and laughed “What, you think you’re driving?” (I take my driving and my cars seriously, lol.) So now, he holds the door open and jokes saying he thought he was driving.
She went on to explain that her current boyfriend is so special, she lets him pay. Before she changed lanes, she never allowed the men she was “dating” to do this beyond the initial date:
Funny thing is…I just told him this weekend…when I was “dating”, I would allow a guy to pay for the first date, but anything after that I would insist on paying or splitting. Letting a guy pay feels like he thinks there’s a “relationship”. I told my guy he should feel special that I’ve allowed him to pay my way on things (I pay for him at times). Weird, but I guess it’s a trust thing, or that I am comfortable with being “his” and he should feel special that I’ve selected him. I’m sure I’ll get blasted for that, but I’m an adult. I pay my own way through life, mortgage, cars, children, etc. I’m proud and I don’t need anyone’s money. He knows that.
I wonder if she saved any other special treats just for him?
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