Do you think curtsying and bowing are truly equivalent?

Question

Curtsying is the female version of the male bow so many definitions state. But do you think they are equivalent in the degree of respect and humility that they show? A lot more women today would prefer to bow like a guy than actually curtsy because there is a perception that they are not equivalent. What do you think?

I am a guy and a in early grade school I was put into a group of girls where the group as a whole had to curtsy. That always stuck with me as a much more humbling experience in my book.

Answer 1

I bow and curtsy on occasion.  It does get people's attention!

Answer 2

It's the same thing. Why is it so important then men and women do the same things? This is getting stupid.

Answer 3

Nobody wants to curtsy and bow, whatever their s*x.

It's not the 18th century anymore.

Answer 4

Which planet did you say you live on?

Answer 5

Honestly, this is the sort of absurd PC nonsense that detracts from real issues and serves only to confound things.  There's just way too many far more important social concerns then the implications of a curtsy or a bow.  This kind of prfound concern about rubbish is tantamount to whether a comma is appropriate in a given sentence in this sort of forum; it detracts from the real issues that society should be focused on.  This analysis of entirely absurd matters is not a progressive measure for society and doesn't help anyone; it just makes it that much more difficult for real issues that ought to take priority to get their deserved attention, e.g. matters of domestic violence, disparity in  how human beings are treated in other countries, access to health care, National Securty, etc.

Discussions whether it's PC to refer to gnat as "pretty" or "attractive" are boring.  There's many, many more important matters right now that deserve priority.

Answer 6

Who does this? I'm sure some cultures do, but for the most part bowing and curtsying are things of the past.

I think a handshake and a smile would be just as good.  

Answer 7

I think a bow is more humbling, although neither is practiced in the society I live in today. And how did you males curtsy? Don't you have to wear a skirt or dress for that?

Crouching doggie..why do you have to trivialize post after post? Exactly how does this post advocate political correctness, when neither bowing nor curtsying are even relevant in our society? The question did not warrant a wordy peer review on its absurdity, and (ironically) how the boring question is.

Answer 8

I enjoy curtsying.

Answer 9

This reminds me of Square Dancing.  There's nothing humiliating about it; especially, when your mind does not seek humility, so then it becomes respectful; and the other way around.