Oh god, good question. It also raises other points like, "are women equal in today's society and therefore not deserving of any special attention". When I was a child, I NEVER understood this, I never understood why I had to be nice to girls, I hated girls! (I was about 5!). But my Mam and Dad would just say, "it's polite", "good manners". It comes from a much earlier part of time, way back, where women were seen as weaker, and something of a prize, I expect. When ships would sink, the rule was always, "women and children first" to leave the boat, men had to die first because it was part of being a man. Men had to have some morals, and character. It was seen as being for the good of everyone. These days manners are in the decline at a shocking rate and it upsets and infuriates, as well as confuses me. I was brought up to say, "excuse me, please, thank you and sorry". These days people will come up to me and say, "what's the time?". I'll say, "time you bought a watch or learned some manners". "I'd say, excuse me, could you tell me the time please? Thank you, sorry to bother you". It used to be part of being English, to have impeccable manners, not any more. So I'd say the custom is just a left over from many decades ago, I DO treat women as equals which means I expect them to hold the door open for me, but say for example when the bus is empty, or full, and I am in the front of the bus queue, if there is a woman beside me, I'll ask her to go on first, it shows respect and caring. If there are 20 people in the queue and half are men and half are women, I'll just get on the bus. As for opening doors, I open doors for everyone, because it's good manners and it's how I'd like people to treat me. Sometimes we need each other, if I fell over and hurt myself, I'd hope someone would care and call an ambulance, so I'm nice to everyone because I want to spread good feelings.

I learned it in jail, I read so many books, it was such a boring time ... or was it from one of my fellow prisoners? Sorry, I can't remember precisely. My criminal record is long, and -- luckily -- also tedious, but I swear over those 1000 bottles of Rum I recently managed to steal, I never failed this rule you are citing.

When I was younger, my dad would yell at me if I did not hold the door for women. Even now, at 20 years old, he gets furious with me if I do not act polite to women or treat my grandmothers like they are queens. It is just part of a lifestyle for a lot of people here. Though, there are people here that do not respect women as well. What I would say to them is that whether someone is a man or a woman, they are still a person. You should treat everyone with kindness, and always treat them as you wish to be treated. Not all women are supposed to be cooks or housewives, and not all men are made to work in business. Good historical examples of this to tell them about would be Joan of Arc and the roles of women in the United States during World War II.

There are several different reasons behind it, I think you should use what appeals to them and their character. For example: 1 opinion I have found is that it's actually a somewhat hypocritical attitude by some guys in that they believe men are better, which is why you shouldn't "lower" yourself to disrespecting women, as you are above them, and should act with dignity and honour. Another may be because women are stronger in some society than others. In Australia where I live for example, there are some girls I would never mistreat because they would probably knock me out. I would be more likely to yell abuse at some random guy than I would some girls. This though is hard to convey through words to people from societies in which women aren't of equal status. In some cases it is because women are treated as the core of the family, mothers, daughters, etc. That women are essential and important to society and to families, and therefore should be protected and treated with care as they are the bringers of the next generation. It is also a "pride" thing in many cases. Pride as a man to protect a woman, pride in your community that members of it feel safe and secure, pride in your country that your family will be protected and that you will protect others. It also helps when people understand that compassion isn't a weakness, nor is empathy. Disrespecting a woman is not strength, it is weakness by the fact you have no self control, which shows an unbalanced mental and/or state, which is the very essence of weakness. In my culture at least, this is what I have learnt and what I believe in, It's about strength and pride. This is something that is a universal concept to all men of any culture, it is only that the views on what makes strength differ. Self-control and inner calm, confidence and strength = a strong man, in many cultures which have "ladies first" attitudes. As I said, it's kind of a hypocritical and contradictory way to look at women, but if the result is something good, then I don't think it's so bad.

Nowadays "Ladies first" is not as widespread as before. People just help each other whether they are young or old. That was the way my parents taught me. Some women like it if a guy opens doors for them when they start dating. As a student and even now I hold doors open for men and women. On the bus/train I stand up to let elderly people or mothers with children have my seat. Australia's train/bus travel policy is that students have to give up their seats for the elderly, pregnant women and mothers struggling with prams and babies.