Frauen und Kinder zuerst!

RMS Titanic survivors aboard a collapsible lifeboat

Women and children first is a saying, that implies that the lives of women (all ages) and children are to be saved first (as opposed to "Every man (or woman, in this case) for himself") if the lives of a certain collection of people are at stake.

History

The practice arose from the chivalrous actions of soldiers during sinking of HMS Birkenhead in 1852, though the phrase itself was not coined until 1860. Although never part of international maritime law, the phrase was popularized in its usage on the RMS Titanic, where, as a consequence of this practice, 74% of women on board were saved, and 52% of children—but only 20% of men.

Unfortunately, some officers on the Titanic misinterpreted this order from Captain Smith to actually prevent men from boarding lifeboats. It was intended that women and children would board first, and any remaining free spaces would then be allocated to men. Because so few men were saved on the Titanic, the men who did survive were in danger of being branded as cowards.

Even today, some people still consider it a man's duty to allow women and children to evacuate first in a disaster. An example is US Airways Flight 1549, which ditched into the Hudson River in 2009. Some passengers were reported to have requested that women and children disembark first.

Gender-based views

Ethologist Anatoly Protopopov suggests that the differences between the genders in regards to sexual selection is the cause of the elevation of an individual woman's importance in society over a man's. He argues that "the fundamental principle of dioecious propagation is the principle of the females' irreplaceability." A lone, single male can sire many children given access to an abundance of women, but it is noted that a single woman cannot sire many children given an abundance of men. A woman only needs one man for dioecious propagation, and any excess men are expendable. Protopopov argues that because of this logic, society places increased importance on the survival of women at the expense of men's survival. This argument does not explain why post-reproductive women would be saved before reproductive men.

Some masculists and men's rights activists have viewed the policy of "women and children first", along with policies of conscription, as evidence of what Warren Farrell refers to as "male disposability"—society expects a man to commit suicide to save the life of a woman, and views him as a coward if he does not. Some second-wave feministsVorlage:Who also take issue with this procedure, arguing that it implies that women are weak and incapable of facing crisis situations, and that to be grouped in the same category as children is demeaning to their adult persons.Vorlage:Fact

External links

• Titanic - Women and Children first