The Concept of Chivalry as a Covert Sexism According to Yook

In Hailey Yook’s article “Chivalry Isn’t Dead, But It Should Be” is a persuasive writing pieces She describes about why chivalry is covert sexism and how it is vital to recognize subtle forms of gender discrimination Yook explains that chivalrous acts aren’t mere of kindness because it is rooted in protection and power which displays masculine strength‘ In the end, she concludes that chivalry is opposite to kindness and should be left in dark ages. Yook incorrectly argues about chivalry, and has some incorrect understandings about men’s acts, however she makes an effective argument about contradictions of women’s believes.

In the introduction Yook describes the meaning of femininity like “honestly, just a euphemism for “weak“” (339), which I think is misunderstanding of the meaning this word She feels that being feminine means to be humiliated by pleasing mend However, feminine is one of the wonderful gifts to women from nature. Being feminine is a set of qualities that promotes feeling in men to protect and take care of women.

What you need to be feminine? In different cultures at various times feminine was interpreted differently, however it has a universal understanding. True feminine contains compassion, sensitive, tenderness, modesty and tolerance, and none of this qualities don’t mean to be “submissive, and servile to men,” (Yook 339). So, I believe women should be proud of their femininity and stop to consider it like discrimination of their rights. Chivalry is the behavior that seems to be covert sexism in Yook‘s opinion because of its “lack of reciprocity” (340).

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For example, she claims that all acts of chivalry are rooted in protection, and power which display masculine strength of men; as a result, all acts of chivalry is just proof of weakness of women and don’t have any sincere intentions to doing good for women.

But I can prove that there is no lack of reciprocity in chivalry and what chivalry look like. Yook notes that women can’t pay back for men by carrying their books or opening them car door, however when men does nice thing for women, they don’t need to thank them in the same way. They can reciprocate by being polite, cooking their lovely food, so there are a lot of different ways to say thank you. To be more confident that chivalry is not rooted in masculinity, we should clearly understand what chivalry is. Chivalry is installed way of manners or behave toward women, inspired by the sense that women is special and gentle creations, who needs special treatment and deserve additional respect because they are future mothers and cradle of the life. Story of Samuel Proctor comes to my mind as an illustration that chivalry is way of being polite and courtesy, He was in the elevator and tripped his hat at woman, who came in, She was insulted by the act of Proctor and asked, “What is that supposed to mean?”.

He answered with greater confidence in his voice, “Madame, by tipping my hat I was telling you several things. That I would not harm you in any way. That if someone came into this elevator and threatened you, I would defend you. That if you fell ill, I would tend to you and if necessary carry you to safety. I was telling you that even though I am a man and physically stronger than you, ] will treat you with both respect and solicitude. But frankly, Madame, it would have taken too much time to tell you all of that; so, instead, ljust tipped my hat” (Emily). Answer of Proctor clearly demonstrates that all chivalry acts have sincere intentions and shouldn’t be considered as display of masculine strength. Even if I don’t agree with Yook’s argument, I still agree with her claims about contradictions of women about sexism.

She describes women who are against chivalry, but they still expect acts of chivalry from men So she found that they were “contradicting themselves” (Yook 340i Yook notices that women are still expecting good manners from men, even if they recognize these acts as “sexism” (340). In this case, women should take one side, They should accept that chivalry is covert sexism and reject any good manners expectations from men or admit that chivalry is about being polite and nice toward women. I believe that chivalry is not a “contradictory representation of kindness” (Yook 340) and shouldn’t be “left in the dark ages“ (Yook 340) Chivalry is not a sickness of women in front of men because treating to women like ladies is a noble side of men, which was proved by story of Proctor and explaining what chivalry is So, chivalry with high moral and goodness is a force that helps women and should be considered as one kindest feature of man without label of covert sexismt.