There was once a day when men had virtue. There was once a time when simply being a man meant being a gentleman.
A man would hold open a door. He would stand as a lady entered or exited a room. He would rise and introduce himself to a newcomer. A gentleman would offer his jacket to a lady in the rain or the cold. A gentleman was humble, loyal, courteous, and just.
There was once a day when such things were true of a man.
Now it seems that the tides have changed and "men" are but a shadow of what they once were. We call ourselves advanced, but for all the advancement in women's rights, they are degraded in ways not so different than their ancestors. You can see the belittling devaluation of women on nearly every television show reaching airtime... You can hear it in the songs reaching the ears of the populous... You can sense it as you simply open your eyes to perceive daily interaction around you.
It sickens me.
The saddest aspect to this sordid reality is that the abasement of women in today's society is due in part to the attitudes of women themselves.
Woman after woman continue to step forward to shamelessly promote indignity on a variety of exploitative reality television shows. They willfully objectify themselves by shaking it for a few hundred dollars in a video. And to top it off- they will shroud all of their actions in the name of the women's rights and liberation movement. I may be a simple man, but doesn't this really defeat the genuine heart of the movement that sought equality and respect for the "fair" gender?
I guess I'm kind of spouting off right now, but I'm not going to apologize for my viewpoint. I consider myself to be chivalrous in a modern sense. I seek to treat all people with dignity and respect. My hope is to rise above the delusion of popular culture in order to restore love, courtesy, and honor.
All this being said, I find it truly disheartening to find that my actions of courtliness are likely most oft perceived as disingenuous by today's woman. Women get weak in the knees over the congenial actions of Mr. Darcy (or any other character ever portrayed by Colin Firth on-film)... Women will even complain about the attitudes of men today, but get put-off when a guy extends the slightest bit of cordiality. What a sad state we are in when men are so loathesome that women are more willing to pursue the affections of a contemptuous slouch than to trust the civil actions of a genuine gentleman.
Anyway, I guess I'll hop down off my soapbox for a while and wait for the onslaught of objections to my "antiquated" view of the world... or worse yet, the onslaught of silence by an apathetic populous. Okay... NOW I'll get off the soapbox.
http://www.esquire.com/features/what-she-wants-0208
