Being a gentleman in the 21st Century

Back in 1967 the rules for dating were fairly clear-cut whether you agreed with them or not.
The US Navy had the following suggestions in a video:

“Be on time, make it easy for her to slip her coat on and off, pull out her chair, stand when she enters a room, sit after she sits, and don’t you dare forget to open the door”.

Some young people are apparently interested in bringing back this kind of old-fashioned civility. But most young women still don’t want a man doing any of the above. They say they can do it for themselves, even if a young man is only trying to be nice to them. One exception is payment for meals: “If a man wants to pay for the whole meal, I won’t stop him,” one woman said, to a total lack of surprise from most men.

The issue of opening doors for women is particularly fraught. I remember opening a door for a woman in a public place. I was brought up from an early age doing this and thought nothing of it. She turned round and almost spat at me : “What’s wrong with you? Do you think I am so pathetic that I can’t open a door for myself?” I was puzzled. She missed the point.

At the end of that U.S. Navy instructional video, the narrator offers a final bit of advice: “Consideration for others, kindness — this is being a gentleman”. Amen to that. Any woman who rejects that has some serious problems.
(Adapted from an article on the NPR website)

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