A Knight in Modern Armor

Once upon a time, there were regal ladies in silken gowns for whose affections knights-errant would compete in royal tournaments, and for whose honor would engage in fierce duels. History and legend alike are rife with tales of gallant heroes sailing off into the sunset for the women they loved; some even going so far as to bring about wars of such devastation they were proclaimed by poets from time in antiquity to the modern age.

Such stories of chivalric devotion sometimes seem as far removed from modern times as the bygone eras which spawned them. There are those who lament the loss of chivalry, particularly regarding those everyday interactions between the two genders. This begs the question: Is there a place in our hustle-and-bustle lifestyle for chivalry, or is it a concept forever relegated to the grave? There are those naysayers who claim that the modern rise in feminism and equality between the sexes precludes the necessity or relevance of chivalry, but I would contend that the modern gentleman should be able to embrace gender parity alongside chivalry.

As a Southern gentleman, I was raised by my mother to have a healthy respect for the feminine condition. My mother is a woman who embraced traditional feminism; she resisted her father's will and graduated from the University of Georgia, going on to teach elementary school for many years. She embodies all that is female strength: She has swung an axe to keep herself warm in the harshest winters while suffering illness, but she has had the softer touch of a caring mother when her two sons and husband needed her most. A native Georgia Peach, my mother is the ideal Southern Belle: independent, strong-willed, and passionate. And for all that she is which embraces feminism, my mother cemented a strong esteem for women in her two sons. Likewise, my father fostered a positive attitude within his two sons regarding the treatment of women; a farm-boy by birth, my father was raised by his principled, farmer father and strong-willed, well-educated mother. He fully embodied the modern embrace of chivalry that I now advocate. My father has always fully supported my mother's choice of careers (first in education, and second as a mother-at-home). My father emulates the traditional archetype of chivalry towards my mother: He respects and supports her choices, while unquestioningly providing for her needs.

I have often been faced with modern young women who take offense when I insist on opening doors, offering my coat in a chill or paying for meals.

I charge that such offense is wholly unwarranted; when a man offers these services, he never means to imply that the woman cannot do these things for herself. Rather, he is embracing all that chivalry is: Even while we are equal in social and economic standing these days, men who do these things are simply offering their respect for what is the more elegant sex. In offering these mild protections and services, we are not insinuating that a woman cannot do these things for herself, simply that we hold such respect for her that we are drawn to afford whatever paltry things we can for her benefit.

I contend that this is modern chivalry, particularly in an age of uncertain times: a man who offers what he is and all he has out of respect for the ladies in his life. After all, we can't very well enter a jousting tournament at the local castle to prove our deference. 
 

Jason Crane is a South Carolina resident, having lived in Aiken since he was 3 years old. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of South Carolina Aiken, afterward moving to Jackson, Mississippi, for three years. He earned a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the Mississippi College School of Law. His interests include history, politics, and enjoying the Southern life to the fullest.