Man drought would be over if shy, quiet guys got a chance

IT SEEMS of late that young women are complaining of a supposed shortage of eligible young gentlemen.

As a bachelor, 28 years old, who would very much like to find a wife to love, honour and cherish for the rest of her life, I consider this complaint to be arrant nonsense, for various reasons.

These young women appear to be looking for gentlemen of chivalry, while forgetting that chivalry was maintained by both men and women. It was not a one-horse cart.

Women were respected when they behaved respectably. As Caroline Chisholm, wisely realised, women are a civilising influence, but only when they set the right example.

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There are gentlemen about, but gentlemen when thinking of marriage, look for gentlewomen, not harlots.

When young women dress in clothing more revealing than underwear, speak like sailors, give themselves to multiple men before marriage, and treat men with manipulative scorn, they must expect the inevitable treatment.

If, however, they would be chivalrously respected, they must make themselves respectable.

Also, many women complain about their men frequenting pubs, and yet where did most of those marriageable girls originally go to find those men?

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If you meet a man at a pub, you must expect him to have certain affection for such places. Perhaps, in daily life, if they tried being friendlier and more approachable to the ordinary lonely chaps all over the place, they just might be pleasantly surprised.

If the girls truly wish to return to the exalted position they once enjoyed in a chivalrous society, they might try wearing tasteful dresses, eschewing make-up, speaking gently and softly, being friendly and kind, frank, honest and open and giving ordinary young men more of a chance in their affections.

There are quite a few of us, poor unprepossessing sods that we are, who try to be gentlemen, and would never mistreat a woman.

We are usually very nervous, due to the savage and often humiliating rebuffs frequently dealt out to us, and so, many of us have given up trying.

Forget this silly idea of being swept off your feet! The best men are generally the shy and quiet ones. Try not ignoring us for a change and you'll find there's no shortage, after all.

• STEVEN HARRISON, Killarney