Bill Bennet on the Aurora theatre shooting

[Graffias]

Bill Bennet, the ultimate White Knight*, comments on the “Dark Knight” shooting. Basically, he states it’s honorable and chivalrous for men to die for women, and more need to do it.

Aurora heroes: Three who gave their lives - CNN.com

As Hanna Rosin so eloquently pointed out in a recent article, calling it chivalry would be a tremendous understatement. By all appearances, these men believed that a man has a responsibility to protect a woman, even to the point of death. They believed that there are things in life worth dying for and the innocent woman sitting next to them was one. This is especially important given the state of many men today. Record numbers of men aren’t working or even looking for work. Record numbers aren’t marrying or even acting as fathers to their children. These men need heroes to imitate whom they can relate to in everyday life, not just make-believe superheroes who catch their imagination for an hour or two. They need heroes like the Aurora three.

My two cents on this: men have been sacrificing their lives to protect women for millennia. In an age where feminism has chastised men and masculinity in general, there are still expectations (by men and woman) that men hold doors for women, pay for women on dates, allow women to leave a sinking ship first (the Costa Concordia disaster being the most recent example), and take a bullet for a woman if need be.

Men as a whole should reject these sexist expectations. Men have paid their dues, and it's time to start looking out for number one. Women said they wanted equal rights, so they can have the equal responsibilities that go along with it. One of those wonderful responsibilities include taking charge of their own personal protection and not expecting men to come charging in on a white horse every time the **** hits the fan.

Next time I’m on a sinking ship, Mr. Bennett is most welcome to take my place among those going down with the boat. If he wants to be dead and honorable, that is his choice. I’ll be the one who’s alive and quite happy with my choice.



*Derogatory term used by mens' rights activists to describe men who are excessively deferential to women

 

[lpast]

Bill Bennet, the ultimate White Knight*, comments on the “Dark Knight” shooting. Basically, he states it’s honorable and chivalrous for men to die for women, and more need to do it.

Aurora heroes: Three who gave their lives - CNN.com



My two cents on this: men have been sacrificing their lives to protect women for millennia. In an age where feminism has chastised men and masculinity in general, there are still expectations (by men and woman) that men hold doors for women, pay for women on dates, allow women to leave a sinking ship first (the Costa Concordia disaster being the most recent example), and take a bullet for a woman if need be.

Men as a whole should reject these sexist expectations. Men have paid their dues, and it's time to start looking out for number one. Women said they wanted equal rights, so they can have the equal responsibilities that go along with it. One of those wonderful responsibilities include taking charge of their own personal protection and not expecting men to come charging in on a white horse every time the **** hits the fan.

Next time I’m on a sinking ship, Mr. Bennett is most welcome to take my place among those going down with the boat. If he wants to be dead and honorable, that is his choice. I’ll be the one who’s alive and quite happy with my choice.



*Derogatory term used by mens' rights activists to describe men who are excessively deferential to women

Graffias if I followed your way...I just wouldnt feel like much of a man anymore. As a man with 6 married daughters I would pray that their husbands had the fortitude to protect them and save them if it ever came to that...

 

[Sarcogito]

Chivalry as many people think of it is something I won’t be disappointed to see disappear. I think it is honorable and noble to sacrifice your life for another PERSON. I think you have a moral OBLIGATION to sacrifice your life for your children. Personally, I would sacrifice my life for my wife. She would be willing to sacrifice her life for me. We love each other. That is what people who love each other do. What is between your legs has no bearing.

What about strangers? I shouldn’t be more likely to dive in front of a bullet for a female stranger than a male stranger. I am more likely to do so for a stranger who is a child. But that is because I believe that we, as a society, are responsible for protecting the children. If I see a man beating a woman I will come to her defense. But if I see a big man kicking the crap out of a smaller and weaker man I will also come to the defense of the weaker man.

But bullets don’t care how strong you are. Why should I be willing to take a bullet for a woman I don’t know if I am not willing to do so for a man I don’t know? It shouldn’t matter. That is what I believe. How I act may be different. I am a soldier so I feel it is my responsibility to defend the People. If I had been in the theater, without my family, I think I would have tried to figure out a way to stop the shooter. I likely would have failed. But let’s say I saw there was no way for me to get to him. And I saw an injured man laying on the ground and an injured woman, neither of who could escape , and I could only save one. I would save the woman. My actions, when force comes to shove, may not always jive with my beliefs. But to say we SHOULD place a woman’s life above a man’s is wrong.

 

[nota bene]

What Bennett concluded with, his thesis, is this:

In an age when traditional manhood has been increasingly relegated to fiction -- capes, masks and green screens -- these three men stand as real-life heroes. Their actions remind us that good triumphs over evil, not just in movies, but also in reality.