"Ladies first" - Not as chivalrious as it seems

One day, I got curious as to how the term 'ladies first', actually came to be. So, I did a research on internet. Nobody seems quite sure how the phrase came to be but there is a story on how. When a man says “Ladies first” women usually find the man most pleasant and is soon full of praise about his good manners. It is thus shocking that the story tell us that the phrase was used not because a man respected a lady or thought fondly of her. In fact it was quite the opposite.

And I am going to copy paste the story here:

 “Once upon time, there were two lovers who loved each other so much. They decided to marry, but some social circumstances and relatives block the way of their marriage since the man comes from a wealthy family and the lady from a poor one. They did not accept this and intentionally decided either to live together as husband and wife, or to die together. So they did their best to make their dream come true, sadly they failed. Dying was their only option to be together forever “Just like Romio & Juliette”.

They thought about a number of ways to commit the suicide, leaping themselves off a cliff into the sea was the appropriate way to them. The Man sincerely said he would not bear seeing her drowning to death before his eyes so he convinced his lover that he would go first and then she would do so latter. In the rush moment, the man did it and drown. The lady was deeply looking at him as he was ‘sinking’. The man was dead. It was the lady’s turn to follow him to live together underneath, as they agreed. But she soon broke her promise, forgetting her sweetheart who was dying before her eyes and in heart as well. She threw herself back to the village’. Yes! Her promise was to throw herself and she did, but back to the village instead of the sea.

She came back home, to her relatives as if nothing has happened. Few days later, she fell in love with another man. She was happy with him as if it was her first love. It did not take a lot of time till she got married to him. Since then, people started using the ‘Ladies First’.″

“Once upon time, there were two lovers who loved each other so much. They decided to marry, but some social circumstances and relatives block the way of their marriage since the man comes from a wealthy family and the lady from a poor one. They did not accept this and intentionally decided either to live together as husband and wife, or to die together. So they did their best to make their dream come true, sadly they failed. Dying was their only option to be together forever “Just like Romio & Juliette”.
They thought about a number of ways to commit the suicide, leaping themselves off a cliff into the sea was the appropriate way to them. The Man sincerely said he would not bear seeing her drowning to death before his eyes so he convinced his lover that he would go first and then she would do so latter. In the rush moment, the man did it and drown. The lady was deeply looking at him as he was ‘sinking’. The man was dead. It was the lady’s turn to follow him to live together underneath, as they agreed. But she soon broke her promise, forgetting her sweetheart who was dying before her eyes and in heart as well. She threw herself back to the village’. Yes! Her promise was to throw herself and she did, but back to the village instead of the sea.
She came back home, to her relatives as if nothing has happened. Few days later, she fell in love with another man. She was happy with him as if it was her first love. It did not take a lot of time till she got married to him. Since then, people started using the ‘Ladies First’.″
- See more at: http://www.bananaq8.com/articles/the-story-behind-ladies-first/#sthash.B4K86Y23.dpuf

“Once upon time, there were two lovers who loved each other so much. They decided to marry, but some social circumstances and relatives block the way of their marriage since the man comes from a wealthy family and the lady from a poor one. They did not accept this and intentionally decided either to live together as husband and wife, or to die together. So they did their best to make their dream come true, sadly they failed. Dying was their only option to be together forever “Just like Romio & Juliette”.
They thought about a number of ways to commit the suicide, leaping themselves off a cliff into the sea was the appropriate way to them. The Man sincerely said he would not bear seeing her drowning to death before his eyes so he convinced his lover that he would go first and then she would do so latter. In the rush moment, the man did it and drown. The lady was deeply looking at him as he was ‘sinking’. The man was dead. It was the lady’s turn to follow him to live together underneath, as they agreed. But she soon broke her promise, forgetting her sweetheart who was dying before her eyes and in heart as well. She threw herself back to the village’. Yes! Her promise was to throw herself and she did, but back to the village instead of the sea.
She came back home, to her relatives as if nothing has happened. Few days later, she fell in love with another man. She was happy with him as if it was her first love. It did not take a lot of time till she got married to him. Since then, people started using the ‘Ladies First’.″
- See more at: http://www.bananaq8.com/articles/the-story-behind-ladies-first/#sthash.B4K86Y23.dpuf

“Once upon time, there were two lovers who loved each other so much. They decided to marry, but some social circumstances and relatives block the way of their marriage since the man comes from a wealthy family and the lady from a poor one. They did not accept this and intentionally decided either to live together as husband and wife, or to die together. So they did their best to make their dream come true, sadly they failed. Dying was their only option to be together forever “Just like Romio & Juliette”.
They thought about a number of ways to commit the suicide, leaping themselves off a cliff into the sea was the appropriate way to them. The Man sincerely said he would not bear seeing her drowning to death before his eyes so he convinced his lover that he would go first and then she would do so latter. In the rush moment, the man did it and drown. The lady was deeply looking at him as he was ‘sinking’. The man was dead. It was the lady’s turn to follow him to live together underneath, as they agreed. But she soon broke her promise, forgetting her sweetheart who was dying before her eyes and in heart as well. She threw herself back to the village’. Yes! Her promise was to throw herself and she did, but back to the village instead of the sea.
She came back home, to her relatives as if nothing has happened. Few days later, she fell in love with another man. She was happy with him as if it was her first love. It did not take a lot of time till she got married to him. Since then, people started using the ‘Ladies First’.″
- See more at: http://www.bananaq8.com/articles/the-story-behind-ladies-first/#sthash.B4K86Y23.dpuf

“Once upon time, there were two lovers who loved each other so much. They decided to marry, but some social circumstances and relatives block the way of their marriage since the man comes from a wealthy family and the lady from a poor one. They did not accept this and intentionally decided either to live together as husband and wife, or to die together. So they did their best to make their dream come true, sadly they failed. Dying was their only option to be together forever “Just like Romio & Juliette”.
They thought about a number of ways to commit the suicide, leaping themselves off a cliff into the sea was the appropriate way to them. The Man sincerely said he would not bear seeing her drowning to death before his eyes so he convinced his lover that he would go first and then she would do so latter. In the rush moment, the man did it and drown. The lady was deeply looking at him as he was ‘sinking’. The man was dead. It was the lady’s turn to follow him to live together underneath, as they agreed. But she soon broke her promise, forgetting her sweetheart who was dying before her eyes and in heart as well. She threw herself back to the village’. Yes! Her promise was to throw herself and she did, but back to the village instead of the sea.
She came back home, to her relatives as if nothing has happened. Few days later, she fell in love with another man. She was happy with him as if it was her first love. It did not take a lot of time till she got married to him. Since then, people started using the ‘Ladies First’.″
- See more at: http://www.bananaq8.com/articles/the-story-behind-ladies-first/#sthash.B4K86Y23.dpuf