Remember in the good old days when men would happily give up their seat to a pregnant woman? That was before modern feminists decided that doing so was an example of “benevolent sexism” and men became afraid of doing nice things like that for fear of being bitched out by some bra-burning lunatic.
It’s gotten so bad, that one pregnant woman decided to do a social experiment to see how long it would take for a man to offer up his seat to her on the subway.
During her FIRST pregnancy, she carried around a little card that she intended to give to the first man who made the offer.
She never had the opportunity to award it to anyone. During her second pregnancy, she made a little trophy that reads, “#1 DECENT DUDE. First man to offer subway seat to pregnant woman throughout Two Pregnancies.” And FINALLY, this happened.
Yvonne Lin got plenty of seat offers from women, apparently – most of whom she says were black or Latina. She always made sure to dress so that it was clear she was pregnant, but never got an offer from a guy until a couple weeks ago.
“He looked up at me and looked super startled and embarrassed,” Lin recalled, “and he immediately stood up and said, ‘Please take this seat, I just noticed.'”
The Washington Heights mom said she never learned the well-bred young man’s name; they did, however, speak briefly, she snapped his photo with her statuette and the gentleman revealed he was a father of two.
Lin said she hopes experiments like hers raise the bar for how New Yorkers treat one another, pregnant or not.
“If men just gave up their seats the same amount of time or similar [as women], then it would be no problem,” Lin said.
There’s a reason guys no longer do this. It’s because they’ve been beaten down so many times after holding doors open or offering their seats for militant feminists who think acts of chivalry are insulting.
Now, I know that’s not the ONLY reason, but you’re not going to convince me that it’s not a major factor.
And I can’t blame them. I’m thrilled that Yvonne Lin finally found a recipient for her trophy, and that dude totally rocks. I hope more guys follow his lead. But I also hope that they’re not faced with complete beyotches who make them feel bad for being polite.
I am delighted to be married to a man who makes sure I’m not next to the curb when we walk down a busy street, and who holds open doors and who carries the heavy stuff. I love his Southern manners. Pussy-hat wearing feminists would probably say that means I’m suffering from Stockholm Syndrome and that I’m a victim of the patriarchy.
They can suck it.