The Knight in Shining Armor

Chivalry is a set of values and qualities such as bravery, honor, courtesy, and gallantry towards women. I feel that chivalry is a dying idea in modern society.

Bravery is the quality of being able to stand up for someone that is being looked down upon. It doesn’t apply to the idea of asking a person to a dance, or standing up for yourself. To be brave, you must also know when and where to stand up to a bully. This is a good segue into the quality of honor.

Honor is the quality of having high moral standards of behavior. For instance, if you find yourself in a situation of standing up to someone, you must find the most favorable outcome, which generally would be through compromise, instead of taking physical action. If the situation does reach the point that physical action is needed, you must know when to stop fighting to not stain the honor of the other person.

Courtesy is doing something helpful, not for one’s own gain, but for the gain of others. The idea of holding the door for another person is a concept lost upon many individuals these days. I feel like a large part of this change in the idea of chivalry is due largely to the media. Things like music make it seem like a man is a chump if he holds a door for a woman, or offers to help her by holding her books or bag.

Gallantry is the action of showing respect to women. I feel that this idea could, in this modern age, be pushed aside and swapped with the idea of equality.

My parents have always taught me to be respectful to everyone around me, and treat people the way I want to be treated.

I’ve gotten fairly used to opening a door for another individual without a moan or groan, and have actually made it a game with some of my friends to see who can get to the door and hold it for the other.

In this evolving society, equality is a rapidly growing idea. With this in mind, I feel that chivalry could be revived, as well as ideas that men are the only ones that chivalry applies to could be changed, to include people of both genders. With this in mind, try your best to open a door, or offer help to someone in need. I promise the outcome will leave both parties happy.