With all of the hand wringing about the lack of an official women and children first policy on the wrecked Costa Concordia, one would think that the ordinary men on board had acquitted themselves with selfish cowardice. One Daily Mail article captioned a picture of the wrecked ship with:

Where was the chivalry? Describing the panic on board, one passenger said there were people screaming and women and children weren’t given priority

Where was the chivalry? I would direct them to the story of the man who gave his life to save his wife, but I’m assuming they already know about it since they wrote the article. Perhaps they would be interested in this story from the New York Daily News: Drowned violinist on doomed cruise ship helped children to safety before he was lost.

Yet only two men losing their lives after putting women and children first simply isn’t enough. Another Daily Mail headline shouts: ‘Forget women and children first, it was every man for himself’: Cruise liner survivors describe nightmare scenes as people fought to escape sinking ship. In the article they back up this damning claim:

Fabio Costa, a crewmate, said: ‘We were giving priority to kids and women and trying to leave the men until last, but they were not accepting it because it was their families.’

Men wanted to stay with and protect their families during a disaster. Those bastards.

We also learn of this father:

‘He said, “Take my baby”, Georgia Ananias said, covering her mouth with her hand. ‘I grabbed the baby. But then I was being pushed down. I didn’t want the baby to fall down the stairs. I gave the baby back. I couldn’t hold her.’ Her daughter Valerie whispered: ‘I wonder where they are.’

How many men need to die protecting women and children in a shipwreck before women and white knights will be satisfied? Clearly two isn’t enough. As we’ve seen from commenter Amanda on Sheila’s blog, even the thousand plus men who stepped aside so that women and children could be saved on RMS Titanic didn’t do so with enough courage or honor to suit her tastes.

The message to men is clear:

We expect more from you next time. More death, more sacrifice, more flair.

Please keep this in mind should the ship you are traveling on experience a sudden loss of buoyancy.