Killing Knighthood
When a woman closes her eyes and pictures her perfect man, any good man has to wonder what she sees. Some might say Prince Charming. Others could choose the gentleman from the popular television series the Bachelor. Perhaps it would be one of the handsome men from the billboards that populate our cities. Sometimes when walking by women it could be heard, “I want my knight in shining armor.” All of these pictures that could be created or visualized must have something in common. There is a hope and desire that resides within humanity, in which all these images coalesce into something more firm than just a face and a body. It used to be that such images as these created a set of standards for the woman as well. These standards could be “I hope he’s charming,” “I’d like to have the door opened for me” or “I hope he’s a man of chivalry.” Chivalry, now that is the word and discipline that should tie all images together.
Wait. Chivalry? One must ask the question, what is that? The famous British Broadcasting Company, or BBC, using the Inside Out facet makes the observation that, “Chivalry has a bloody past, born out of the battlefield of medieval Europe” (par 11). While a great note about the history of it, this quote fails to capture what the idea of chivalry has become. From the battlefield it has morphed into the social code which the majority of people now acknowledge. Chivalry is the way, the ideals, of how a man should treat a woman, and in some cases visa versa. The ideals embodied within chivalry are the codes of care and courtesy and mutual respect for the fairer sex, not necessarily a code of fairness on the battlefield. However, if we were to continue to apply it to a struggle or battle, it would be on the battlefield of love and friendship. So how does one learn of these ideas of chivalry?
The media becomes a big part of understanding this whole concept as the media is constantly trying to show the aspects of...