A few days ago at work, a coworker and I were discussing a task, a task involving some physical effort. He made the comment, 'You shouldn't do it by yourself, you know... Because of chivalry.' I immediately responded, 'You mean misogyny!'
Does chivalry even exist? Or is it an invention by the male-centric structure of human culture to make subjugation more palatable? Let a man open a door for you, it's chivalry! Let a man pay for your meal/movie/entertainment, it's chivalry! This process teaches women, and especially young girls to not be independent, to rely on men, that they are unable to provide for themselves. It allows thought processes where a woman's place is at home, protected and reliant upon their man.
Can you imagine if the common dating methods were gender swapped? Most men I know would cringe at the thought of a woman paying!
When I've tried to discuss this idea with other women, I inevitably get some response to the effect, we could take care of ourselves but its important to make men feel needed and important. This is completely belittling any action taken by men, to the passive aggressive control of women. This is not a function of a healthy relationship!
I think that men and women should individually act in the best interest of each other, dividing tasks and repositioning according to ability and experience, not gender. There is nothing as frustrating to me, as not being allowed to do something simply because I was born with a certain genetic code.
Just to clarify, I'm not blaming men for acting 'chivalrous'. They are acting in noble, polite and according to how society teaches them to act. They are just as much victims in this gender-imposed mess as women. And they deal with and are negatively affected by misogyny as much as women.
