Cartoon by Adrian Martinez/Staff

When an announcer says, “ladies and gentlemen please have a seat,” men should remain standing, not diving for the open chair.

Gentlemen are a critically endangered species.

They have almost completely disappeared, vanished off the face of the Earth, leaving behind a trail of swine. That is not to say that there are not any gentlemen left, but swine are reproducing faster.

Pigs are not something that any man should aspire to be, so why is it that society today is filled with them? Part of the blame can be attributed to women. When women were fighting to be independent individuals, the population of gentlemen decreased. Women wanted to open their own doors, they could carry their own things and they did not need the help of any man. Their search for independence led to a decline in gentlemen.

Michelle Cove, director and producer of “Seeking Happily Ever After,” a documentary focused on women redefining happily ever after.

“Maybe men are confused because we women give them mixed messages: we want to be treated as equals, but we want them to carry our groceries and let us go ahead of them in line,” she wrote. “I will be the first to admit it, it’s confusing and it’s probably unfair to expect guys to know how to behave if we don’t set out our expectations for them.”

Some women also tolerate rude behavior from men. They allow derogatory terms to be placed on them, which makes men think it is okay to use them on every woman.

Comedian Dave Chappelle said women have themselves to blame.

“I hear women say this all the time, ‘Chivalry is dead,’ that men are not gentlemen anymore,” he said. “That’s right, chivalry is dead and women killed it.”

Some blame goes to the entertainment media.

Many athletes and entertainers are teaching young men that making fast money and meeting fast women is the way to go. There are few examples of gentlemen. Why? Sex sells. Entertainment media make men seem manly, muscular and in charge. Our popular entertainment portrays men as rich pimps in competition to see who can have sex with the most women. There are rarely examples of men opening doors for people or helping old ladies cross the street. Gentlemen barely exist in movies or on T.V.

Women are portrayed as targets for men. Those women who are “independent” are shown as wanting one type of man, a bad boy.

When some men see this example from the entertainment industry they feel the need to be “manly” and may follow the example, live up (or down) to the expectations, and behave in the same crude manner. This superiority stereotype sometimes causes men to lose gentlemanly traits.

Ladies should expect better treatment and should never accept anything less then gentlemanly behavior. If nice guys stop finishing last, dogs will change their attitude fast.

Chivalry may not be dead, but it is definitely on vacation. If nothing happens to combat the filthy swine, they will take over and gentlemen will go extinct.