Derived from the French "chevalier" for horseman, chivalry was originally linked to the code of behaviour associated with knighthood. These days we have restored Knighthoods but chivalry seems a dying art. An art form it is—or was—there are certain techniques and protocols and there is a skill in pulling it off without seeming patronising or, increasingly and sadly in these PC days, sexist. Personally I don’t give a shit how it or I look when I practice it. I will continue to open doors for women regardless of age—of the woman not the door; I recently did it for a 10 year-old. I know to walk on the outside of a footpath and I will stand to greet a woman. That’s what my parents taught me and something I hope I have taught my own boys. But what I am wondering is why even writing about chivalry makes me feel so old.
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