“Oooo, he is such a dogg!” Perhaps you have heard these words from stars in movies or music. Or ladies, maybe you have uttered these words in a typical girlfriend-to-girlfriend chat. The reasons behind why a “sistah” may refer to a “brutha” in such a negative light varies, and is often very complex (baby mama drama, “creepin,'” etcetera). But one of the most common reasons comes from what many people, especially females, refer to as the death of chivalry. Technically, chivalry was originally used to describe the gallantry, nobility and honor of knights during medieval times. But, when most people think of chivalry they think of men opening doors for women, or pulling a chair out for a lady before she sits-basically, being a gentleman.
If you ask a lot of the PV females, many will comment that nowadays such acts are practically extinct. “No, chivalry doesn’t exist; only with some of the professors. The only time these boys show it is when they want to get in your pants,” said freshman Erica Gordon.
“Yeah, it still exists,” said sophomore Damien McDonald. “I still open doors for females. Then again not everyone’s like me. The classy guys do it, while the ghetto ones don’t.” Why have limitations been put on what deems a PV man to be a gentleman? It seems that if they are chivalrous they are either old, classy, or driven by “ulterior-motives.” Many of the ladies on campus can quote stories told to them by their mothers of men taking off their hats to say “good day” or how opening a car door on a date was as expected as sunshine in the day time.
The question that then arises is: why is there such an obvious lack of gentlemen nowadays? Some say it’s the underlying messages sent through music and the media. “It’s a different generation, and a lot of the boys today didn’t have father figures growing up to show them how a man should treat a woman,” said freshman Daiquiri Lovine.
Amber Foster, a freshman, also blames it on upbringing. “Every boy isn’t raised the same way and some aren’t raised properly to know how to be a gentleman,” said Foster.
As much as admitting this would displease some of the miserable PV females among us, chivalry is not completely obsolete among our male counterparts. There are still some guys that hold open the door when you walk in the MSC door, or pick up your pen for you when it rolls closer to their desk. And some guys who do refer to females as Miss or Ma’am-occasionally. Just don’t expect the boys to stand up to greet you when you walk in class tomorrow.