"Ladies go first" says that women are inferior.

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"Ladies go first" is a sexist rule. It implies that women are inferior to men and you should give respect to those who are inferior.

Where did you get that idea?

“Ladies First” shows respect for the people who conceive us, incubate us, give birth to us, and nourish us.

Do you want all women to bow down to you?

No, it's backwards. The saying implies that men are dispensable and therefore inferior, like the "women and children first" rule they once had on ships.

I don’t think it means that, but I think if a man opens a door for a woman, it can seem like women are incapable of opening doors for themselves. I know it’s meant to be nice.

I hold doors open for people when they are approaching regardless of what gender they are.

Holding the door open for someone when they are approaching is a polite thing to do, but gender shouldn't matter.

I always hold doors open for people, but I meant that even though I think it’s nice when a man opens a door (like a car door) for a woman, it isn’t always necessary because we can open them, too. Some people could probably feel insulted by it.

Holding doors for people regardless of gender should be the rule(typically is already the case for Canadians). Being expected to only have a door open for you if you are a woman is of course sexist, though not that it matters. Issues like men are expected to pay for dates is something that pisses me off more. I'm not a feminist as inequality for both genders irritates me, not just those that negatively affect women.

Some women at least here in the US still think they are entitled to guys holding doors open for them but there's other women who get offended when any guy opens the door for them when they don't have their hands full. Guys might as well flip a coin & ask if they want to risk coming off as a jerk for opening the door or coming off as a jerk for not opening it. I'm somewhat of a feminist & even I have barely heard of any women getting upset when the guy pays. I've heard of some women even going as far as offering to pay while requiring that the man insists on paying anyways.

It implies women are weak (which honestly an Edwardian woman never taught to exercise and wearing a long dress was) and men aren't as special.

Pregnant women makes sense though esp in a society without abortion. Because you're saving the future child at the same time.


Idk about boats but nowadays the advice on planes is put your own life jacket on first before helping your kid. It's gone backwards.

Letting ladies through doors hasn't made sense since hoop skirts. Then it made sense just as it's rude to not open the door for someone who is carrying a lot of heavy items today.

A long time ago women wore hoop skirts and had trouble just reaching for a door handle, so men would normally hold the door open for them. So I guess if there wasn't a man around, a women would be trapped in her own house.

I like to open my own doors because I wish to be treated as a man. I identify as male and everyone in my area knows it, so I would expect them to treat me accordingly. There are romantic type women who love it when men open doors for them and prepare their seats for them. Ladies first makes me feel gross inside because that's not what I am on the inside.

"Women and Children First" on ships was coined because women could be pregnant. It was an effort to save the most vulnerable passengers (children and the unborn). Not all confinements are visible, not all women know if they are pregnant, and one certainly can't say "Women under the age of ....." and discriminate by age as a boat is sinking.

Historically, many women have chosen to stay onboard with their husbands in the event of a shipwreck.

Imagine a "black people go first" rule. Racist, right? "Ladies go first" is just as bad.

Some women don’t like it because they feel like it is putting them on a pedestal instead of treating them as equals.

I like it when people open doors for me. I frequently hold doors open for other people, too.

Chivalry versus sexism

Before the Civil Rights Era, whites frequently went “first.”

Black people were forced to open the door for white people.