I finally watched the video which has given rise to such agita, and in my opinion is that Gillette’s marketing department tried — and failed — to get across a very old message. Part of the problem is that when one is thinking about organizations possessing moral authority, marketing departments aren’t usually on the short list.

The early medieval period was pretty chaotic. The collapse of the security provided by the western Roman Empire left Europe with a power vacuum. Various strongmen vied with each other for territory, leading to almost continuous fighting. The Church was almost the only widely recognized authority in the region. It promulgated the Peace of God to get the warring parties to quit raiding churches, abbeys, and convents, and to stop robbing the unarmed clergy.

Shortly thereafter, the Truce of God was added. Days when combat would be forbidden were extended from Sunday only to Thursday through Sunday. In addition to the clergy, immunity to harassment was supposed to be extended to women and children, unarmed men working in the fields, and traveling merchants. Over time, a code for individual behavior evolved.

An expression of this code is summarized in The Song of Roland.

It is frequently pointed out that knights failed to live up to this ideal. This fails to consider that if ideals are easy to achieve, what one needs to do is raise one’s ideals.

Gillette would have been castigated if they had advanced anything like this, which is a pity because it gets closer to what I think they were shooting for. One treats women with respect because to do otherwise brings one into dishonor, not only in the eyes of others but in one’s own eyes as well. “It is how gentlemen behave,” my grandmother told me as she had me hold the door for her. I still hold doors. The last time a woman berated me for doing so, I told her “It’s not about who you are. It’s about who I am.”

So remember: