Should the 'women and children first' rule still apply when a ship is sinking?

Yeah. I'm a guy.

And I don't think that women shouldn't be equal to men. Just when it comes down to who should be saved, I'd do the generous thing and give the spaces to the ladies.

Quiet woman! When you're in a life or death situation you aren't gonna think about crap like being a decent human being. Just leave that 'honour' and 'respect' nonsense to fairy tales, this is the real harsh world we live in.

Don't be surprised to see a fully grown healthy man push a woman and her baby out of the way in order to survive. Its just his survival instinct kicking in.

Well it would be a generous thing for a lady to give up her spot also.

Why should a 60 year old woman get to live while me an 18 year old man should die, she has lived a life and probably had kids maybe even grand kids of her own why should I give up a seat for this woman just because I am a male.

I think they should keep families together where possible

What if there was no sperm bank. All reserved sperm was destroyed before the ship set sail

people who cannot swim should get a place in the lifeboat first, doesn't matter if it's a child or adult, male or female. it's not fair for a teenage female swimming athlete who can at least keep afloat for much longer to get a place before a male non-swimmer.

So, it's been 100 years since the Titanic sank and it's got me thinking. Is the 'women and children first' rule (which isn't always practiced or enforced when a ship is sinking anyway) outdated?

Personally, it strikes me as kind of sexist- why should a woman's life be worth more than that of a man? Us girls are constantly complaining that we still aren't treated as complete equals to men, but surely things like this unwritten rule are hindering our achievement of equality?

I know that if I were on board a sinking ship, I'd give up my space on a lifeboat for somebody else, but I wonder how many others actually would?

Anyway, I'm just interested to know what you guys think; should it be every man for himself, the most vulnerable first or should the captain still order men to step aside for women and children?

Discuss

If women are prioritised, weak men should be too. But this is hard to do when you're on a sinking ship, I don't think it's necessarily people being sexist when saying women should go first. It's tricky to stratify human life in any way like this.

But we must remember Titanic was a different time, when people were dying all the time anyway. People were less sensitive to it back then. This one guy decided he wasn't going to suffer the indignity of jumping in the lifeboat and clinging on desperately to life, he was a millionaire for heaven's sake. So he went back to his cabin to get his top hat and tails and "went down with the ship like a gentleman".

The more scandalous tragedy of Titanic was that they shut the doors on the working-class rabble below decks to keep the air in so the ship would stay buoyant. Even where the third-class passengers did find a way out, they had no hope of getting a lifeboat by that time.

These days the point is completely moot. But people are more individualist these days so they would just go for it like animals probably.

How is that cowardly? It's wise.

Are you honestly telling me that you would allow yourself to die so that someone you don't know can live? Give over.

you should change your name to 'like a coward'.

Wanting to survive makes you a coward?