Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-12-03
A Blow To Chivalry
By Frederick. Haskin

| her an inferior1
| These questions ard just now the sub
| ject OF good deal of debate among ad-
| ganced forninists, and II is even posnible
| that some pronouncement on the subJeet
| NAV be made by leading wornan's
| organization.
Eo longer is IL safe for man indiscrirn-
! inatirWly 20 lift bis hat 10 a woman. That
/ is, not if she happens 70 be feminist OF
! the most advanced school.
/ These radicals say that hat tipping,
/ fnr from signifying respect, means simply
! that the man regards woman as aweak and
! helnless creature. They dig back into the
romantic days Of chivalry and produce
I data showing thnt the bold, brave knights
used 20 remove their weighty helmets in
/ the presence Of anyone who was To be
I trusted or harmless. Women came m
! this second group. There may have been
/ other reasons why the knights made a
/ ladv's presence q regular excuse 70 DIS
pense with their head cages Probably the
weight made their heads ache. Probably
too they liked their feminine friends TO
/ coo their noble features. But the big idea,
whother they we're conscious Of il at al |
times or not, was that woman was q
thing apart and not 20 be taken seriously.
The same principle, according 10 the
ferninists has come down 20 us IN other
bits Of gallartry which in their true
meaning proclaiIn wOman's infeTiority.
/ This is true Of a man walking on the out
/ side Of the pavement 20 guard a woman
companion against any danger from tho
street. and also Of a man rising 70 give a
! woman a seat in a street car.
The first IA obviously an act of protso-
ton, based on the idea Of woman's iregiE
ity Regarding street car conduct there is
some controversy. The advance guard
Of ferninism finds that when a man rises
/ in a public place to resign hrs seat 70
woman he is making special concession
TO her ser, especially her frailty II the
woman is able-bodied, the insinuatlon ls
! not exactly compliment. mere
fore. they say, the pantomime Of ex-
changing positions on street car can -9I, t De
eliminated and social intercourse will be
one step nearer an honest, sensible basis.
Fonn.Lrrr VERSUS CONSIDERATION.
Most Of the women, however, even
those who prefer not % accept favors
from men when offered on basis Of special
| consideration for their sex, agree that
vary often a man is To be applauded Tor
giving up his seat 30 some one else. Com
/ mon politeness-not offensive chivalry'-
demands that an old person Of either ser,
a woman with baby, q cripple or SICK
/ person, should be seated in street car
or waiting room. Some concede that a
man can even surrender his seat 70 Q
tired-looldng woman Of any age WITHOUT
implying that she i mere doll 70 oe
handled with care. And, Of course, soHe
women cay that they ike 70 see man shov
consideration for them, whatever i I'M
plies.
Ancient ideas Of wonan's place n
society still guide Us when i comes q
many social forrnslities. IN some places
is still held the correct thing for mar
10 precede woman up stairs and descend
aafter her The origin Of this ls obscurt
but We have been told that II could prob
ably be traced to the time when women
wore hoop skirts.
This fashion. combined with the polite
idea Of the time that 8 woman mad nc
legs, would make it proper for man 20
! conduct himself 80 that illusion might
remain unshattered. II he descended trst-
and stood awaiting bis fair comparison
below. either the styles II clothing 4 IN
| decorura would have had 70 chailse
/ Nowadays, when women skirts are knee
length and street car steps TWO teet hlgn
the precaUtion Of man preceding a
woman UP q fight Of steps Is obviously
OUT OF 3llIEs 1kEErLAAF E0AA ~h~A@ e-~<
changed somewhat TO allow the man e
follow the woman both up and down
stairs.
Another threadbsre convention IS fol
the women st dinner party 70 adjourn
70 the parlors, leaving the men 70 snoA'
and talk in the dining room. Tins proce
dure started st medieval banQuets wneI
eyerv body, men and women alike, cram
med 70 the neck on as many KINDS o
food as the host could pile on an over
laden board. After dinner, the dsIlseA
retired. and their lords proceeded 70 oT1ni
themselves 70 sleep under the table
This dinner party etiquette, which VA
still justified until recently by the FAC
that women were supposed 70 object 4
cigar smoke, Is now mere hollow torrn
Certainly few modern women object 4
,he scent Of tobacco smoke, and man!
feel sighted II not invited 20 help mskl
II.
sCxE INDIVIDUAL VIEWS
The women do not intend 10 keep then
theories III the conversation stage. Their
Is talk here pro and con of a public dec
l3ration 70 settle these matters Of what Il
desirable IN the way of courtesy frou
men. 1t is in this connection that th;
Woman's Party "a considering bill o.
ghts 70 be drafted by the national con
vcntion Of women voters when il meets a.
he capital rext February This would
certainly simplify the situation FOX per.
olexed man. Before such a declaration
could be made, however, there would
have 70 be q concensus of opinion obtained
So far, there has been no organized at
tempt 10 find out where women yoters
stand on the question, though there isnO
doubt every woman has her own definite
ideas on the subject.
We give h re three sample opinions by
women who are representative, and VI
predict that the convention Will have
some trouble inreconciling the different
factions which will rise 20 show that lift
ing hat is an act Of scorn or a gesture
of reverence.
Margaret Hatfield, who Is q strons
believer in womans S equality with man
and who retains her maiden name, though
married, expressed the following view;
There always has been, and | suppoSe
always viii be, the chivalry which is
founded on women being the mothers oi
the race Mans willingness to carry the
heavier physical burden is founded on
this factual basis. But the chivalry which
divides women into two classes, the pro
tected, and the unprotected woman, il
intolerable and the quicker it is don,
away with the quicker we will approach
=