Chivalry "Hides a Dark Side"?

NOTES:

Chivalry sounds nice, but it hides a dark side. While pretending to treat women with courtesy, we also treat them as if they are less capable, in leadership, in intelligence, and so on. It took as late as 1919 for women to get the right to vote in the US, for example. As late as 2016, some people voted for an incompetent over a highly accomplished woman, because, in their view, a “man can do a better job than a woman”.

USAGE:

“If Ambler details the death of chivalry, she also exposes the dark underbelly of that very culture -- a culture that feared outsiders and prized violence, while purporting to embody the values of ‘honour’ and bravery.”
Reformer or Violent Thug?: A New Biography of Simon de Montfort Is Enthralling and Horrifying in Equal Parts; Sunday Times (London, UK); Jun 2, 2019.

Chivalry "hides a dark side"? As opposed to what? Muslim honor-killings? Indian suttee? Female Genital Mutilation in Sub-Saharan Africa? Chinese foot-binding? As for "a culture that feared outsiders and prized violence," we heirs of de Montfort sure seem swarmed by violent outsiders these days. One need only glance at the skyrocketing rape statistics in Sweden and Germany, visit the No-Go Zones in Belgium and France, or read about the terror bombings in Britain for confirmation. 

Polite and big-hearted, Westerners have long practiced reticence in the face of these staggering double standards. But enough is enough. 

Tony Pivetta

Royal Oak, Mich.

-----Original Message-----
From: Wordsmith <wsmith@wordsmith.org>
To: apivetta <apivetta@aol.com>
Sent: Wed, Jun 26, 2019 12:43 am
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--chivalry