Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Men Don't Hold Doors

Men don't hold doors, even if you're wearing a pretty dress. Oh, they'll let their eyes trail a little too long or make idol chit chat in the line at the post office, but they don't hold doors. Chivalry is all but dead in American men.

Men wonder why books like the Sookie Stackhouse series and the Twilight Saga have such an appeal to modern women.  It's simple. The vamps are from another era, one in which they treated a lady like, well, a lady. There is nothing terribly redeeming about Bill Compton or Edward Cullen. If you break the characters down, they are actually pretty lousy guys. Bill Compton is a liar, a LIAR I tell you. And Edward Cullen, good grief, he's the poster child for a controlling, obsessive boyfriend. But they pull out chairs, they take their love interests on proper dates, they come to the door instead of texting to tell you to hop in their fancy vampire car, and last but not least, they hold doors.

Sure, women want to be treated as equals, receive the same pay as men, and blabbity-blabbity-blah.  That's not the point. We still want to feel special. We want to feel like the man is appreciative of our feminine charms, our time, and our general existence. This is why I write romance novels. Men take us for granted now-a-days. There is something so magical about losing yourself in the fantasy of a really intense love story. All of the fireworks and butterflies and Shiny New Boy feelings. It's the way you feel about a guy when you first start dating him.  It's the way you wish it would always stay, but is inevitably crushed underneath years of marriage, bills, kids, mortgages, and laundry.

So men, take a hint. It's not sparkly vampires and rondezvous at undead hours that turn on your woman.  Just hold open a fucking door.

**Please note this is not a veiled shot at my husband, who incidentally, not only holds doors but also never lets me walk on the curb side of the sidewalk, because HE is a true gentleman.

2 comments:

  1. My hubby walks on the street side, too! Doing that, AND letting me into the passenger car door, AND waiting for me to sit down before closing it and walking around to his side, nearly made me pass out on our first date ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aww, yay hubby! Mine holds doors too. :-) But yeah, guys, if you want an edge on your competition, treat a lady like a lady, not yer drinking buddy! Well said AB.

    ReplyDelete