Shallowater High School in Lubbock County, Texas, was planning an upcoming “Chivalry Day” and an assignment to go with it is being slammed online. Images of the assignment, which instructs female students to “obey any reasonable request of a male” for the entire day, were posted on Twitter by Brandi D. Addison, a journalist for the “Dallas Morning News.” And people have lots of opinions about the task.
The photo of the “rules” for the assignment explains its aim to “demonstrate to the school how the code of chivalry and standards set in the medieval concept of courtly love carries over into the modern-day.” Other “Chivalry Day” requirements include for female students to “dress in a feminine manner to please the men,” “cook … something for gentlemen of the class,” “lower their heads and curtsy” for male students, and to refrain from showing “intellectual superiority if it would offend the men around them.”
On the flip side, Addison also tweeted an image of the assignment for the class’s male students, which includes them wearing suits and ties, showing “courtly courtesy” by addressing the females as “Milady” and “rising when a lady enters the room.” Folks on Twitter debated the intentions of the assignment, with some saying it was trying to show the unfair standards for sexes in medieval times. But many commenters find the project unacceptable and sexist. According to Addison, the assignment was changed after parent complaints and the Shallowater Independent School district confirms the school’s “Chivalry Day” plans have been canceled.
