How did men come to treat women so delicately?

Question

How did the current treatment of women become a social norm? I'm referring to things like being a "gentleman", or being polite, not teasing them, being careful about what we say or how we word things to them, being careful about physical contact, etc. Was this is a sociological creation, or have we always, instinctively, treated women in a careful, delicate manner? If it's sociological, when did it start and towards what end? If it's instinctive, what is the biological or evolutionary purpose of it, and how did that transfer into a social norm?

Answer 1

I think it goes back to basic animal nature.  I guess its because men need s*x more than women do, so they must pamper and please the lady in order to willingly get what they need from her.   They also have to compete against other males who might be trying to woo the same female. From there, it evolved into social graces - especially in Victorian era when open sexuality was totally camouflaged behind coyness, chivalry and manners.  Women no doubt contributed, by playing the part of helpless creatures, in order to encourage the man to do more for her.  I may be wrong..but this makes sense to me.   As a  modern woman living in modern times, it still works on me.

Answer 2

Because men became more mature and acknowledged that woman are the weaker s*x.

Answer 3

I believe it has something to do with living in the post-Victorian era, when things were very proper and men were very gentlemanly.  Prior to this, I think women were probably treated a lot differently, although there can be seen exceptions in many ancient texts, but these normally refer to an isolated situation of when a man is in love with a woman.  Things seem to be moving away from this slowly, now that courting is less popular, and s*x related crimes are on the rise.

Answer 4

In most eras in most places, men did not treat women so "delicately."  The Victorian Age was responsible for what you describe.

Answer 5

It happened all in one full course of the moons' delight. The Martains had all of those {arrogant] warriors beat with whips.

Answer 6

personally, i believe it started out as a biological impulse. look at nature. as a general rule, though i realize it doesn't apply to all animals, females nurture and males protect. i believe this is because (genetically speaking) males are expendable, basically. one male is enough to keep populations growing long enough to recover from a tragedy. one male and many females means many babies. females are genetically more valuable. a few females can't reproduce fast enough to ensure the survival of the species, no matter how many males there are. i believe it started as a sort of a subliminal biological message that is still expressed today in a "women and children first out of sinking ship" kind of way.

a show i saw once about s*x in the animal kingdom made another excellent point, which someone here already touched on, albeit very lightly. s*x is good because mother nature wants us to like those things that help the species survive. but why are men so much more driven to it than women? the show answered that question in terms of the animals, but i think the same applies to humans. females have the eggs. they give birth and know that they have defeated death as anyone can, by leaving part of themselves to go on. males, on the other hand, can only guess, or trust. they can never know for sure. granted that in the age of DNA testing that's changing, but this is at a purely irrational subliminal level. a male can only do his best to be chosen by the female. if he is chosen by the female, then she won't get away and ruin everything by mating with the next male she finds. so a male has to please the female and be chosen.

things went somewhat off track when protection turned into ownership and pleasing became unnecessary by way of taking by force and locking women in towers. eventually, though, it became obvious that wasn't quite working. force doesn't get rid of that doubt. someone could scale the walls, or betray trust, or sneak in and out.

i am inclined to agree that the victorian age had something to do with how this is manifested today, but i might go even further back to the courtly love of the troubadours - it became apparent that women liked to be cared for, probably because in those days it was such a novelty.

i'm afraid i can't really give you any sources here, as i'm mostly just sharing my thoughts.

Answer 7

I don't know, however I believe it to be the correct behavior.

~

Answer 8

Ya, and they have a higher pain thresh hold.

Answer 9

quite frankly you need to be grateful. because this has evolved due to a total discuss at the miss treatment of women which occurs more often then ever. it means that a man considers your weaker construction as a woman get sees you as their equal. some women are quite tough but other aren't.

Answer 10

women are generally soft, emotional in nature. so as the civilisation grew..it became a social practice..

its not that one man or one perticular time era has started this norm....its rooted in human nature..