It must be stopped.

I consider myself a fairly rational person.  I understand that men aren’t made of cash. Also, I can’t tolerate women that rely on nothing but charm and feminine wiles to cruise through life. I can see the blatant contradiction in what I’m suggesting. I can’t help it. There’s some kind of innate need to be taken care of by an intelligent, attractive man with a hero-complex. I blame Disney. (See my last article Prince of my Heart for further discussion on this topic.)

Is it wrong to take a backseat and let the guy take the lead? Part of the “Knight in Shining Armor” fantasy includes a guy who is confident enough to not require exhaustive discussion before action. As there is no dragon to slay, there’s some inherent expectation that he’ll do the modern equivalent without a second thought.

So what if I’m living an enormous contradiction? Let’s not kid ourselves, we tend to fall into certain gender roles despite men being encouraged to soften up and women wanting to be more proactive. Along with all these new functions, the traditional roles remain. Generally, men are still expected to be masculine providers. Women, a gentler and more nuturing sex, are thought of as delicate, sweet-smelling baby factories. Are we simply overloading ourselves in an effort to compete for which sex can take on the most?

We’re stuck. Even if you’d like to believe we’ve progressed past old fashioned expectations, we haven’t. Maybe it’s some prehistoric need we haven’t evolved out of yet. If you spend any time talking to guys and girls about dating, it becomes clear that men like to feel a bit needed and women appreciate a guy that can take care of business. We’re all feeding into it and is it really that detrimental to society? It’s just how we relate.

Embrace it.

Where’s the balance? I’m not certain. Allow me to impart this little tidbit of information out into the world: I can safely say that I (as well as most sane, normal women) always notice when a guy gets the door or pays.  If I simply offer a ‘thanks,’ in the back of my mind I’m thinking, “You sir, are a gentleman. I am eternally grateful.” (Yes, I am using a Will Ferrell Anchorman voice when I think it.)