You know chivalry is dead when... he won't change his life for you.

That's just the facts of life- sometimes unexpected things happen and a couple needs to make a joint decision as to the state of their affairs. We are living in a different time where the man and the woman both work and both have a stake in their careers. Gone are the days when the woman used to drop everything and follow the man anywhere.

So isn't chivalry based on the notion that the man will take care of the woman and the woman doesn't need to work? Chivalry has a different definition of what it was then and what it is now. Chivalry is now more like a gentleman state, where he cares about your feelings and where you two can work as a team and part of that is being able to want to change his life for you if it's something that needs to be done. With communication, he should be willing to make a sacrifice if that's what it calls for.

You know chivalry is dead when...it's not, but you still can't date him!

Ahhhh the act of courting. The period of time where the guy tries to sweep the girl off her feet. He's sweet, he takes you out to dinner, he buys you things, he's attentive etc. The list can go on and on.

Men who court are a dying breed and not only are they becoming extinct, since there is so few of them, the ones that are dateable are few and far between. As much as we'd like to say that women are not shallow creatures, we sometimes are.

I'd love to have the power to see beyond physical appearance and see straight through to a person's heart, but it doesn't really work out that way. As much as I'd like to curse the cute men who are not chivalrous, as much as I'd like to curse the chivalrous men for not being more attractive, I ultimately curse myself for not being able to look past physical appearances.

As much as you'd like to spend the rest of your life being angry at yourself for feeling the way you do, it's also okay to accept the fact that you're just not that into him and move on. Somewhere down the line you'll find a guy who not only is chivalrous but is to your liking physically as well.

You know chivalry is dead when...you realize he's not the person you once knew.

People grow up. They continuously learn new things about themselves. I'm sure you've heard the saying people either grow "together" or they grow "apart." So while that couple that has been together since they were 14 are still happily married, that may not be the case for everyone.

I think that's why the statistics of divorce rate for young marriages are so high, since people are still young, they're still figuring themselves out. They have yet to find their niche. Some people are lucky in that they continuously work out and help each other out, while others just realize it no longer works.

So while you're bummed out when you realize that he no longer does the things he once did like open car doors for you, call you cute pet names and think you're the sexiest girl on the planet, just realize sometimes things aren't forever.

However, with every cloud, comes a silver lining and although you may not have won the love lottery with this guy, this guy has helped you grow. You have now become a more aware person of who you are and of what you are looking for in a partner.

Chivalry can only take you so far, a genuine connection can last a lifetime.

You know chivalry is dead when...you have to bring home the bacon!

So I'm all for women power and all, but there's this trend where men think it's okay for the woman to be the bread winner.

Now I'm not saying that the man should be working his ass off while the woman gets to stay home and do nothing but there's this new trend where even if the woman is the bread winner and even if both people do work, the woman still ends up doing more chores at home. Case in point? If both the man and woman work, the woman will take care of the kids once she picks them up from the babysitters, will cook dinner and do the house work. What will the man do? He'll do the yard work. Seems like a fair enough trade right? Not exactly, especially since child care and domestic chores takes longer than mowing a lawn every now and again.

So is it now that the days are long gone when men used to bring home the bacon and women used to stay home and watch the children? Well it's not gone completely, but it is disappearing at a faster rate, especially since the economy is bad and the cost of living has steadily rose and the minimum wage is not rising as quickly.

Whether you decide to stay home and raise the family, have a full time job and take care of domestic chores or bring home the bacon and expect your husband to do the chores is completely up to you.

Maybe chivalry is dead when it comes to stay-at-home-moms, but as long as both parties are doing equal amounts of work, it shouldn't matter. Appreciation is key in any relationship to ensure that chivalry is not dead!  

You know chivalry is dead when...you're having a quarter-life crisis

I'm giving my age away now but, I can't help but loathe the quarter-life crisis. What is the quarter-life crisis? According to dictionary.com it is "an emotional crisis in one's twenties with anxiety and self-doubt after leaving academic life."

You know what my opinion on it is? People telling you false-truths. Maybe when I'm 40 I'll look back on this time in my life and laugh but for now it's traumatizing. I'm pretty sure most, if not all of us college graduates were told we'd be getting a good paying job once we graduated. Please feel free to tell Jane or Jack that even though they've been out of college for 3 years now and are still working at Starbucks, once they hit 30, it'll all work out in the end.

So how does a quarter-life crisis have anything to do with chivalry being dead? A quarter-life crisis isn't gender specific, it happens to almost everyone. It's that feeling of uncertainty, being unstable and not being sure where your path will lead you. For the most part, men want to feel stable before they pop the question to their lady love. Men know a "Sir, I'd like to marry your daughter. I'm unemployed right now, but eventually I'll get a good paying job and then we will be able to move out of your house," is not going to impress the family.

Times are tough, the economy is struggling right now and the infamous saying "you have to love yourself before you can love anyone else" comes to mind. Even if Mr. Chivalry has his ducks in a row and is making a stellar pay check, if you, the girl, are having second thoughts about what you're supposed to do with your life, you're not going to be 100% checked-into the relationship.

Maybe in a couple of years when you've figured yourself out, you'll find a man who makes you think "maybe chivalry isn't dead."