0723 Is Chivalry Dead
Last week, I was in downtown Guangzhou doing some temporary work. To get to my workplace, I needed to take two
rides of subway subways,
doing the transit transferring at the busiest stop
of in the city.
Taking the subway is usually an enjoyment to me I usually enjoy take the subway, except
for the during rush hour
s when people jostle their way in or out of the cabin.
Yet However this time,
there came some help I got some help, making my train journey a little easier than
what it otherwise would have been.
Early this year, the Guangzhou subway
saved dedicated (or designated) some cabins as “For Ladies” during the weekday rush hour
s. This is because during summer, there would be no shortage
of physical contact in a crowded subway train. In an effort to reduce the chance of sexual harassment
, as well as be
ing considerate to the weaker side in a packed cabin, the authority decided to designate a few cabins especially for women during the peak time. It is not
a compulsory
act , but rather, voluntary. And it is interesting to observe how men react to a policy that overwhelmingly favors women.
During my stay there, I noticed that most young men would
withdraw if they found out that they were misplaced get off the designated cabin once they found out they were in the wrong place , albeit
begrudgingly for some
,. bBut there were also the people whose perverse incentives drove them to stay unmoved, despite being repeatedly
persuaded urged (or simply "told") by subway staff. They
questionedasked:,
"Wwhat
happens about to the gender equality that women had always been striving for?
" This prompted me to ask: Is
Cchivalry so out of date that it deserves to die?
It is true that the modern women wish for more say in political, economic, and social matters. Just around a century ago, women had no right to vote, to be educated and to contend with their husbands even if they were right. In China, women were forced to follow the leads of all male members of the family, including their son, while the Victoria Era in the West saw women typically bound by an array of social and ethical values.
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