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I've heard that "chivalry is dead" for as long as I can remember, maybe before I even knew what the word chivalry meant. I, like many other individuals, had accepted it. In my mind, yes chivalry had in fact died a slow yet somehow sudden death. Having accepted it, I no longer expected it, not a single bit. Lately however, I've been doing a lot of soul searching (yes I know, how cliché) about myself, my needs, and how they relate to the people I surround myself with on a daily basis. One question automatically sprung to mind: why does society deem it natural for one to eventually accept something they don't like? After thinking about it for a long time, I realized that chivalry hasn't died, people just stopped insisting upon it, and then accepted the loss as normal. Now if that's not a tragedy, then what is? Why, ladies (and I suppose gentlemen) do we repeatedly settle for people who repeatedly fall short of our ideals and standards? Why must we settle for second best? The absence of chivalry is only a notion we've planted in our heads because no one wants to deal with the disappointment that comes after a certain individual doesn't act accordingly to our needs. We've told ourselves that chivalry is outdated and not needed anymore, to justify the misdeeds of the opposite gender. If he doesn't open the car door for you, and you expected him to, you tell yourself "ah well chivalry is dead anyway, isn't it?" If he doesn't buy you flowers on your birthday, you tell yourself "oh well no one does that very much anymore anyway." If he doesn't call you when he tells you he will, you tell yourself "ah well everyone forgets every now and then." Well I say it's foolish to be making excuses to hide your disappointment and justifying clearly unjust actions. Chivalry has not died, it's still there, the only thing you need to do is expect it and let your expectation be known. If you yourself don't care about how you're treated, then nobody else will either.