Chivalry Is Dead?

One Texas school finds out what happens when you try to dig it up for a day

It’s said that chivalry is dead. But one Texas high school tried to bring it back, at least for a day. You can probably guess things didn’t go as planned.

The Shallowater Independent School District, near Lubbock, planned a “Chivalry Day” to teach high school students about life in the days of old.

Male students were instructed to wear coats and ties, rise when a lady enters the room and greet her with a bow, and refrain from vulgar words and phrases, among other niceties.

Doesn’t sound so bad. We imagine many parents would be happy to see their teenage boys embrace a bit more courtesy.

But instructions for female students weren’t as well received.

In the spirit of the Middle Ages, the district told young ladies to “dress in a feminine manner to please the men.” The female students were also instructed to, among other things, address male classmates respectfully with a bowed head and curtsy, never complain, whine or criticize a male, walk daintily behind males and refrain from showing intellectual superiority. Oh, and they were expected to cook a treat for the males in class and to clean up after them.

Let’s just say parents weren’t as thrilled. And they made their feelings known on social media.

On Wednesday, Shallowater ISD confirmed it had canceled Chivalry Day because of the negative response.

We have no doubt the district thought this would be fun for the students while giving them a better understanding of how pervasive gender inequality was in medieval times. It wasn’t just the romantic ideal of bold knights and fair maidens.

But in these times they should have known the backlash would come down hard.

So it really does look like the old saw is true and chivalry is dead and buried. And after this we doubt any school will try to dig it up.