Them times sure are a-changing… just not quite how Dylan envisaged it:
Tabitha Willett has sparked debate as she criticized ‘commuting men on their phones’ for not offering her a train seat – despite wearing a ‘baby on board’ badge.
The Made In Chelsea star, 33, who is expecting her second child, took to Instagram on Tuesday to tell London commuters to ‘do better’.
Sharing a short video of a busy train showing a number of people sitting and standing on their phones, Tabitha penned: ‘I don’t want to be a moan but…
‘On the way back from the school run and a carriage full of men on their phones and no one stood up for a pregnant woman with a badge or elderly couple next to me.
‘Do better London’.
Not gonna happen.
I mean, I myself will always stand up to offer my seat to a woman, pregnant or not. But I’m not a younger man who’s had the shit kicked out of me since childhood by the public school system, by the media and by women in general for my toxic masculinity and frequent screams of “we can do anything that men can do”.
Well then, young men might say, you can bloody well stand on the train when there aren’t any open seats, just like men do.
And let’s be honest: that passive-aggressive button (“Baby On Board”? give me strength) isn’t going to help matters.
Back in the day, of course, such boorish and selfish behavior from younger men would have sparked a response from other men in the railway carriage, said miscreants being hoisted out of their seat by the collar, with maybe a few solid cuffs to the head thrown in.
Now? No chance, chickie.
And you can think your ultra-feministicals for that, because men have a simple response for when the rules of the game are changed to their detriment: they just stop playing.
Manners and courtesy, you see, have always been an indulgence and not a duty. And the days of indulgence are over.
Like I said: I’m not going to change; the habits and manners of a lifetime are too ingrained in me for that simple rejection. But when young men have never been taught those simple manners, those lubricants of polite society, and even been chided that said manners are arrogant and prime examples of The Patriarchy / Toxic Masculinity…
Well, they’re just going to stay in their seats. As they should.
Preach it, Kim, preach it.
I’ve become numb from decades of “angry, ugly women,” as my sainted mother called them, demeaning men and by extension, me and you for being courteous, competent, helpful and kind. They can bloody well open their own doors and lug their totes and car seats, and change their own damned tires, and if the fucking Karens and lumpy dykes can’t summon the strength or know-how, tough shit.
Well said Valine
I never get offered a seat by women OR men, and I need crutches to stand up in a moving vehicle and WILL have them with me when traveling.
And this girl demands she gets given a seat simply because she has a bit of a bulging belly?
It was on a NY subway a few years ago that my dear daughter-in-law was offered a seat by a kind young women who imagined that my DIL was pregnant, much to everyone’s embarrassment. Said DIL was not pregnant at the time, but did look it. Perhaps a “no baby on board, just chubby” sign might have helped.
I can’t stand women that badge for this that and the other, expecting deference – you got up the duff, big deal. So did I and a bazillion other women – your choice. Likewise all the other flag mad hags – you and whatever cause your on this week, isn’t more important than me or the next person so get over yourself, you’re not that special.
I stand for elderly or people that clearly need the seat more than me, our son would do the same, as he was brought up to do. If someone offers me a seat, great – I will take it with thanks. Likewise someone opens the door for me – lovely, I’m a sucker for gentlemanly manners. Mr True Brit still does that, and more, every single time, after 51 years. Do I expect it? No. Does it make me less ‘womanly’ or ‘empowered’ (spit) when I accept it? Also no – if someone shows me a curtesy I’m not going to throw it back in their face.
Women can’t have it both ways – delicate little flowers that need protection (Abbey Clancy was taken to hospital recently after, get this, breaking a nail) – and be rabid feministicals at the same time. Just be respectful and you are respected.
That said, someone gives me grief, man or woman, they’re going to know about it. How’s that for ‘empowerment’.
You are definitely ONE woman I do not want to annoy.
It’s a good thing we’re friends.
I’m fortunate enough not to have encountered the obnoxious feministicals in my person life. I hold doors for others and often enough they hold doors for me.
That said, when I read about these annoying, penis-envying Marxists getting their knickers in a twist because they aren’t getting the privileges they expect, my automatic response is “Welcome to equality ladies! Sucks, don’t it?”.
^^^^^
“Welcome to equality, ladies! Sucks, don’t it?”.
Well said. I’m also old school on this, and like Kim, too old to change. And I don’t want to change in this regard, it would make me too bitter.
But the phrase you reap what you sow comes to mind, Dunnit?
I don’t think much more can be said. I decry seeing it, but ladies mostly asked for this.
I’m reminded of some tiketytox video making the rounds a while ago of some single AWFL bitching about how the only good men are conservative. No shit sweetie.
Back when we were living in Minnesnowduh (thanks for that little change) I used to open doors for women because that’s how I was raised. Probably 90% of the time I’d get a smile and a, “Thank you”, but the remaining 10% (invariably the horribly ugly harridans) would snarl at me for having the nerve to assume that they couldn’t open the door for themselves. I’d smile, and say, “I’m sorry ma’am…I mistook you for a lady” and walk away.
I’ve NEVER gotten that kind of ugly response from any woman, young, old, healthy, or barely able to move, here in NW Wyoming. Men routinely open doors, get grocery carts, or offer to help load things into vehicles for women of any age, or elderly men, just because it’s a polite thing to do. You always get a very nice, “Thank you” as well even if they decline the offer.
Addressing women as “Miss” is also completely acceptable, and if you’ve made an error (or addressed it deliberately) to somebody who is middle-aged (i.e., 30 years younger than me) they’ll usually smile and fish for a compliment by saying something like, “Oh, you can call me ma’am, I’ve got three kids”. That’s your cue to politely doubt that somebody who looks as well as they do could possibly have children that old. It’s all kinda fun, and it provides social lubrication that the collectivists would like to wipe out.
It’s all about the value proposition. Growing up in the 60’s, in a family of 9, the worst thing you could do as a child was to embarrass your parents. At least in my house that was the worst. The consequences were dire, and shall we say, memorable. My Dad was a firm believer in setting the example, “pour encourager les autres”.
Also, during 12 years of Catholic education, you got $1M worth of “manners and deportment” jammed down your throat a nickel at a time by the priests, sisters and brothers. After that, for me it was 38 years in the Navy where respect was implied until forfeited by disreputable behavior (in most cases).
As you say, lifelong habits that are like muscle memory. This is the type of thing though, that if it skips a generation, it becomes a relic and a mystery to most.
Muscle memory indeed. In my case Parental embarrassment was corrected swiftly, publicly, and corporally.
There’s another way?
I was going to ask the same.
Must be some new thing…
I was taught to hold the door open for people. Back in the early ’90s I was in the leftist utopia of Northampton, Massachusetts where my sister, some friends and I were going into a store. As I approached the door first, I held it open for everyone in our party. There was a woman coming up behind us and she gave me this utter scowl for holding the door open for her. She was too close for me to go through the door so I had held it open for her too. I said to her something to the effect of “I hold the door open for guys too so don’t let your penis envy get the best of you.” As she stood agape, I entered the building. Nobody has time for these feminazis who demand equal treatment then are shocked when they receive it.