2008 Woodie Awards
... And You Miss, Are No Lady
Courtney Roy
Issue date: 2/9/05 Section: Perspectives
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Believe it or not, there once was a time when girls prided themselves on behaving like ladies. A lady believed that she must always dress properly, mind her manners, and take time to make sure that all around her are comfortable and happy. A good gentleman always made sure to remove his hat when he walked into a building, open doors for women, and treat everyone with the utmost respect and honor.
The golden age of manners, the 1950s and 60s, are clearly long gone. Lately, it seems as though all of this has disappeared, and is replaced with girls trying their hardest to show the most skin, and do whatever it takes to score the most guys. When walking into a building, one sees caps abound, women with full hands struggling to open doors, and people talking loudly on cell phones. Clearly our society changed quite a bit in the past few decades, and in many ways, it has changed for the worse. We have all forgotten the basic rules of respect, and regressed into a society of yelling, angry, self-centered people. Now, it is common to see two people fighting in the street for no real reason, threatening one another and trying to draw anyone within earshot into the argument. And all for what? To impress strangers with your immense "street cred?" Surely at the end of the day, the people that witnessed this display will not go home and think to themselves, "Wow, that man screaming in the street sure is tough; quite the role model." Somewhere along the line, we lost ourselves and forgot that the real actions that matter are often the ones that go unrecognized, as we spend all of our time trying to draw attention to ourselves by any means possible.
Raised in a southern household, I was always taught the value of modesty, not so much out of religious intentions, but as a sign of respect for myself and those around me. It seems as though this has gone by the wayside with the advent of the miniskirt and halter-top. For whatever reason, many women place all of their value in the hemline of a skirt and a low neckline. It seems as though the more men a woman can attract, the better of a person she has become. Walking around the city in the freezing cold wearing jacket, sweater and scarf, only to see other women roaming the streets in micro minis and stilettos, just seems absurd.
The golden age of manners, the 1950s and 60s, are clearly long gone. Lately, it seems as though all of this has disappeared, and is replaced with girls trying their hardest to show the most skin, and do whatever it takes to score the most guys. When walking into a building, one sees caps abound, women with full hands struggling to open doors, and people talking loudly on cell phones. Clearly our society changed quite a bit in the past few decades, and in many ways, it has changed for the worse. We have all forgotten the basic rules of respect, and regressed into a society of yelling, angry, self-centered people. Now, it is common to see two people fighting in the street for no real reason, threatening one another and trying to draw anyone within earshot into the argument. And all for what? To impress strangers with your immense "street cred?" Surely at the end of the day, the people that witnessed this display will not go home and think to themselves, "Wow, that man screaming in the street sure is tough; quite the role model." Somewhere along the line, we lost ourselves and forgot that the real actions that matter are often the ones that go unrecognized, as we spend all of our time trying to draw attention to ourselves by any means possible.
Raised in a southern household, I was always taught the value of modesty, not so much out of religious intentions, but as a sign of respect for myself and those around me. It seems as though this has gone by the wayside with the advent of the miniskirt and halter-top. For whatever reason, many women place all of their value in the hemline of a skirt and a low neckline. It seems as though the more men a woman can attract, the better of a person she has become. Walking around the city in the freezing cold wearing jacket, sweater and scarf, only to see other women roaming the streets in micro minis and stilettos, just seems absurd.