My youngest has just been through an ettiqutte course at school. Not annoyed at all about that. What did annoy me was the boys had to carry the girls bags/books for a day. Boys had to open doors and pull out chairs etc. etc.
I hope I have raised my girls to do this for anyone as I don't want them to be pathetic girlies and I think it is wrong for the male of the species

To be gentlemen?

Sorry with Amerlisa on this one. Good to know someone is teaching etiquette. If people want to reject etiquette for various reasons when they are older fine but at least let etiquette be taught, as there are far too many ignorant people about as it is.
Getting up for pregnant women seems to me common sense but sadly on tubes etc the young people aren't doing it.

And I love it when a gentleman pulls out a seat or opens a door for me and I don't feel weak or pathetic in letting them.

Yes, in the main I'm with you, but they insisted on the girls wearing skirts or dresses. As a female I hope that I extend to my fellow person all the courtesy that I would like to receive. I just think that what the school was doing was incredibly sexist. They had the boys carry the girls books and take off their coats etc. I would hope that my girls are clever enough to do this for themselves and that no self respecting male feels the need to pander to their every whim.

I do question the skirt thing, but in society today if you go to a formal dinner (afraid I've been to some ) there is a standard of etiquette which does involve letting someone/partner take your coat etc and maybe a few more things that may seem sexist. And if you want your children to do well in society (if you deem them going to those boring places ) they do need to know those things rightly or wrongly.
I used to laugh at my mum teaching me all these things and how set and use items at a dinner as no one to me knew these things, (if the Queen asked you to dinner etc )
But lately I'm just glad she did or I would have been shown up. (And the amount of Americans that don't know how to eat properly )

Maybe I'm from the old school, but a guy acting like a gentleman is extremely appealing to me. And I would expect nothing less of the guy that takes out my daughter. While I expect my daughters to behave and act like the independent women I raise them to be, I still think some roles will never diminish, nor should they.

Whoa there lady!! Give the testicles back to you husband for a second and think about it.

I open doors and give up my seat to women for the simple reason that it is chivalrous, courteous and polite to do so...not because I think women are feeble or weak. The whole reason this is done is because as men we are supposed to be physically stronger than women (Amerlisa excluded) and therefore deem it fair and just that any extra weight is carried by us. It's not taking a single thing away from your feminimity...infact it addds to it in my eyes. I like a woman to be a woman....not a guy with tits and an attitude.

I'd karma you for that if I didnt think you must have temporary insanity for saying something I agree with.

In honesty, I'm struggling with this as on the one hand I want my girls to be treated like the "princesses" they are but on the other I don't want them to think that men are there to be taken advantage of

IMO, I think you are looking at incorrectly. Of course, your girls know how to open a door and put on and take off their own coats. Having a man do it for them does not take away from their independence nor from their status of "I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar".

Manners are sadly lacking in the generations that followed mine. It is pleasing and pleasurable for a woman to feel "female", do not read that as helpless, when out with a man. To have him hold the door for you, walk on the curb side of the street, take your coat, etc. makes a woman feel feminine and pampered.

In the business world, manners are what will help both a man and woman climb the corporate ladder. Knowing how to act in different social settings with your corporate peers and professional superiors so that you are noticed for the correct behavior and not the bad behavior is what will set you apart from the herd.

My only objection would be the dress code issue of the etiquette class. A woman can still be feminine in pants as well as a dress.

Isn't a man who acts the gentleman, just treating a woman with respect? What kind of woman would think a gentleman is there to be taken advantage of?

I would give you karma for that, but I have to spread it around first. I completely agree, Rushie.

NO when I hear that I think spoiled little brats who expect the world. And how can a man take advantage of a woman by opening a door etc to them

Even he could not lose those! Yes I agree with almost everything you said. I just don't want my girls to feel entitled and that as far as I could see they were giving the girls the impression that they were weak and pathetic.