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No, ‘Women and Children First’ Rule Was Never a Real Thing
Down the rabbit-hole of chivalry myths
I just love it when random men remind me how much happier women used to be. You know, before we got all crazy and demanded equality. We had blissful lives spent taking care of our husbands, children, scrubbing dishes, and baking pies. We didn’t have to worry about who to vote for or any of that hard stuff. We were praised, protected, and taken care of by our strong, chivalrous men.
We were even given priority in maritime disasters because of the ‘women and children first’ rule.
Oh, how lucky we were, right?
Well, not really. Anyone with a functioning brain and knowledge of history can tell you that.
And that ‘women and children first’ rule is essentially a myth. Just like many other myths some people like to perpetuate to pretend men of the past were always heroes. They really weren’t.
Titanic was one of the exceptions, and not exactly a good one
The idea that women and children should be evacuated first from a sinking ship was made famous by the Titanic disaster. And it has held sway for more than 150 years. Which isn’t all that surprising since it’s a notion that captures the age-old…
