Chivalry - we’ve all heard of it and generally know what it is. For those who are not exactly familiar with the term, the code of chivalry emphasizes bravery, military skill, generosity in victory and courtesy to women. I will be focusing on the 'courtesy to women' part of the code. I will show how we as a society have become blind to the courtesy our young ladies deserve, and how I think we got that way.

To get us started, imagine you are in a restaurant. You’re enjoying a meal to yourself, and a young couple walks in. The young man enters first, followed by the young lady. He tells the hostess, “table for two please,” and they are seated. He automatically sits down once they get to the table and proceeds to look at the menu; all the while, the young lady takes her jacket off by herself and then proceeds to sit and look at the menu. The waiter comes, and they order their food, and enjoy the meal and pleasant conversation. The waiter comes back at the end of the meal and takes their plates. He then asks if there will be any dessert, to which the couple says, "no thank you," and asks for the check. The waiter returns with the check and the young man looks at the young lady and states that they’re going to split the check. Later on in the evening, as you’re walking home, you see them once again and observe her to be walking on the part of the sidewalk closest to the street.

That was unpleasant, was it not? Most guys, like myself, see that sort of behavior from our young men today and cringe because they were not taught that when you are in the presence of a female, she is to be treated as a queen - with dignity, loyalty, respect, and love.

Now, imagine this scenario. You’re in that same exact restaurant a week later when another young couple walks in. The young man gets to the door first, followed by the young lady. He kindly opens the door, allowing his date to enter first. They tell the hostess, “table for two please,” and they are seated. He waits for the hostess to leave the table, and before seating himself, he helps his date with her jacket and carefully helps push in her chair in closer to the table. He then seats himself and proceeds to look at the menu. The waiter comes, takes their order and they enjoy the meal and pleasant conversation. The waiter comes back at the end of the meal, takes their plates and asks if there will be any dessert to which the couple says, "no thank you, just bring the check please." The waiter returns with the check and the young man looks at the young lady and says, “I’ve got this,” and then proceeds to pay the bill. Later on in the evening, as you’re walking home, you see them once again and observe him to be walking on the outermost part of the sidewalk closest to the street, and when crossing the street, he switches to both of her sides to be closest to the oncoming traffic.

Now most of you reading this are saying that the latter situation is the one that will have a more harmonious outcome. The young man is showing the young lady how much he cares about her by doing simple, little things like opening doors for her, helping her with her jacket, helping her with her chair, picking up the check, walking closest to the street and walking the closest to oncoming traffic when crossing said street. So why did I make you suffer through the first rendition of the story? Simply because there are young men out there who act that way and don’t know any better.

One may ask 'how did we get that way and what are some things that we as men can do to practice chivalry towards the young ladies that we are in contact with on a daily basis?' To begin, we’re going to take a look at three things that I believe have been attributing factors to the decline of chivalry in today's culture.

First, I think that in most cases today intimacy between males and females has died out because of laziness. It's much easier to converse with females via texting or messaging through a social media avenue. To me, and I have fallen victim to this way of thinking as well, this is not intimate at all. Be original with your words and be genuine with her!

Second, I believe that with the media today, and what we hear in music and on television, it shows our young men a negative way of thinking about women and how not to treat them. As funny as it may be, one of the main dominant themes that is in the award winning television show, The Big Bang Theory, is to focus on getting in bed with a young lady as fast as you can. They could not be any more wrong! Instead of focusing on sex and one night stands as the only way of intimacy, focus on getting to know her more. Show her that you are more interested in getting to know her than going to be with her, which is something that ought to be intended for marriage anyway.

The third reason why I believe chivalry has died is simply because of the growing ideals of feminism. Now, before I begin, I believe that women should have the same opportunities men have. But I believe that when this new way of thinking came about, chivalry wasn’t viewed as a man showing a woman how much he cared about her. Instead, I believe that feminists saw it as an act of saying that men were dominant to women and by doing these acts of kindness for them, men were showing their dominance over them.

Earlier, I had stated that a woman should be treated like a queen rather than a princess. To explain this simply, a princess is second best and when you have the privilege of getting to know or be with a young lady, she should not be your second best, she should be your number one. So men, let's be examples of how we should treat our women - with the love that they deserve and cherish, so that they are able to show us the respect that we desire.