so i witnessed something today that made me think. probably more than i should have.
i was on a crowded bus from my uni. the bus driver announced to the platform that he could fit either the male or female onto the bus, but not both, because of capacity etc. makes sense, right?
the man said oh, okay. and walked away to let the girl on board. this got me thinking. is the male population trying to make up for hundreds of years of worldwide female oppression?
if you asked that guy who gave up his spot on the bus why, i'm sure he would say something like "i dont know" or "i didn't really think about it" - it's just expected. maybe it's a part of our culture, how we're brought up. and i'm not talking about general politeness.
have you ever challenged a virtue which is so closely followed in your mind? you would go a little mad i think. of course, you have to exclude the possibility that the male did it to impress the girl or to make friends. they were strangers. strangers, and yet it seems, there was already a specifically created order in which they behaved.
standing up on a bus, a guy offers you a seat. why? are you too fragile to stand up for a few minutes across town? or is it something deeper? something imbedded in our social construction?
it may be general politeness - but you only see it one way. girls are never expected to act this way and put the interests of the male first in general social situations.
why do we still abide by chivalrous values in this day and age?
feel free challenge your own behaviour and social construction and ask yourself, why do i do this? why do i act this way? if you have time.
bye for now
xR
Wow Rhi all this coming from a gal who has a dad who is the King of Chivalry!
ReplyDeleteWhilst I get the point you are trying to make here I admit to being a fan of chivalry and love being treated like a lady. Call me old fashioned but I like having doors opened for me and being offered a seat etc. That said I think that I have found a nice balance with my relationship with your dad in that whilst he treats me like a lady I treat him mighty fine also. The same can be said when I am out and about and with my daily dealing with other people. I open/hold doors for men/women/children/the elderly/disabled/pregnant women etc. Treating all others as I myself like to be treated is the way that works best for me. I also like the saying two wrongs don't make a right and it would NEVER be ok for a man to hit a woman in my books regardless of if she hit him first. Although methinks you are more questioning why it appears to be more acceptable for a woman to hit a man than vice versa right? Similar to societies perception of if a woman sleeps around she is considered slutty but a man doing same is perceived a stud?
Interesting topic today lovey!
Kimmie
xxx
Hi kimmie ,I wrote this whol long answer for you then BAM!! I lost it lol just my day...but I am with kimmie and forgot all the things I wrote of at 5am lol however i will be going away for the weekend and shall sit again and rewrite my comments for you...goood topic though .. may i just say on a romantic date nothing is more lovely than being treated like a lady xx
ReplyDeletethanks for the comments! i definitely do appreciate being treated 'like a lady' - who doesn't! haha. i have recently started challenging social norms and cultural things like that, that don't really have an explanation if you asked people on the street. challening what has been thought to be normalised in the name of sociology :) can you tell i'm having fun at university? haha. xxx
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