If being over a certain age and being of the opinion that using good manners shows respect for another makes one "old school", then I surely qualify! LOL!
Personally, I've always found it awkward when someone tries to help me on with my coat. I just am kind of a "dork" in that area and always manage to somehow get tangled up:-( However, I do appreciate it when anyone opens a door for me, or holds open a door for me. That's why I do so for others as well. But, there is something very different going on than mere manners when a Butch is the one getting the door for a Femme.
The wonderful Butches I've had the honor & pleasure of being partnered with in my life have been feminists, as I am. Yet, the wanting to open doors for me, hold my chair out, and all of the other gracious gestures they've done for me, just always seem to spring from their very beingness. Seems to me to be a quality that has somehow been encoded in them. Just as graciously allowing and receiving such gifts has been encoded in me, as a Femme. I'm definitely not the same way in my interactions with men, meaning I do my best to not allow or encourage such actions. Not that I want to be treated rudely. I just don't want to be treated differently by a man just because I'm a woman.
Yet, I would never stop a Butch from opening the door for me, or "laying her/hys coat" across the puddle for me to walk across. In my perception, we are both energetically empowered during such an exchange. It is part of the dance we do together. The dance that creates and completes a circle of feminine/masculine power between us that enriches, nourishes, and empowers each of us. That being said, my personal feminism comes out when I do the same sorts of gestures for the Butches I've been with. The fact that doing so often takes them by surprise is kind of fun and I've used it as a way to be playful.
Well, I could on a bit on that theme, I think, but I won't do that here. I will end by saying that I'm all for good manners. I believe they are a key factor in the civilized behavior of human beings, serving as a type of social lubricant that allows us to get along more easily with each other in our busy, hectic and increasingly crowded cities.
Off my soap box now.
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PumaJ
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