DON’T TELL ME LADIES FIRST

I heard something today that made me quite surprised and bitter in a way which kind of like changed my perspective. So to all the ladies in the house don’t judge me when I say a guy shouldn’t tell me ladies first. Well there are controversial stories but I’ll start with the one a friend told me.

Lots of us use the phrase “ladies first” and fine who cares, about its origin someone else could have just come up with It. Well lets go to the war view which was the first one I heard. In the colonial days, when the colonial masters are on the ship with their slaves they’ve bought and they are travelling. If it seems that the ship is too heavy depending on the weather, to prevent a shipwreck and to reduce the weight so that the ship can be lighter, the colonial masters cannot throw themselves or their men slaves because they are strong and they need them. They cannot throw the children either and they cannot throw their food away. Hence they threw the ladies first to lighten the ship.

Looking at another version, during war periods in ancient times and the other warring faction could not come out to check how armed the soldiers were, they sent the ladies first because they claimed they were weaker and unimportant. So practically ladies were being used as experiments. Eventually, if the ladies returned they would assume that the other warring faction is no so armed and if they did return, they would assume that they were fully armed.

Well , following all these controversies, I decided to read about it and there was another funny version told of two lovers in Italy. They loved themselves too much as against the wishes of their family. So they decided to get married even if it means them dying together. Eventually, the families did not agree and so they wanted to stay together and the only way to do that was to die together(Romeo and Juliet * eyes rolling*). Some versions would say they wanted to jump from the top of a mountain others would say they wanted to drown in the sea. Which ever version you want to go with. The man jumped first because he couldn’t watch her die before his eyes .Time for the woman to take her own jump, she couldn’t and eventually she returned and soon after loved again and got married. Hence people started distrusting the women, saying ladies first.

These stories are just something else. There is another version that says that looking at it from the perspective of etiquette, originally men say ladies first but it is not meant to be so all the time. In a situation where the man is unsure of the environment and it seems that the environment poses danger, he is meant to go before the lady to ensure her safety. Ooh.. how can I forget the titanic version of women and children only ( okay at least there is a positive version that favors women)

Generally , when I looked at the war aspect of it (LORD, I felt stupid for all the times I actually told a guy, LADIES FIRST). Moving on, the controversies are still too much so to every one out there, I’d rather you don’t tell a lady, LADIES FIRST. You can always say, AFTER YOU. I think that’s better except it has its own controversial origin too. SHOUT OUT!!! to all the ladies in the house( to the guys sorry for not giving you a shout out, much LOVE). Happy new month and just incase you see me, for more emphasis…don’t tell me LADIES FIRST. Have a splendid weekend ahead.