is chivalry dead? And who killed it?

I once briefly dated a guy who annoyed me with his chivalry. When we walked down the sidewalk, he would switch places so that I was further away from traffic. He opened doors, held my purse, called me pet names and looked insulted when I offered to pay.

The entire time of our brief relationship, I alternated between exasperation:

'No, really I'm quite capable of walking closer to those cars'

...and gushing adulation:

recounting to a friend 'Seriously, he insisted in carrying me around because my feet were hurting too much'

I almost feel sorry for my guy friends. It's a situation of damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

To be honest, I'm entirely sure what I want... Carrie Bradshaw said it best with this:

'What if Prince Charming had never shown up? Would Snow White have slept in that glass coffin forever? Or would she have eventually woken up, spit out the apple, gotten a job and a health care package? I couldn't help but wonder -- inside every confident, driven, single woman, is there a delicate, fragile princess waiting to be saved?'