Where have all the dragon slayers gone?

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Gone are the days of handsome princes waking sleeping beauties with a kiss, having ridden over harsh terrain on a powerful stallion in pursuit of their lover's hand. But it seems, ladies, that we are most unfortunate in belonging to a generation whose young men have lost the will to ask the all-important question, 'Do you wanna go out sometime?'

And it's not as if knights in shining armour going all out for their damsels are confined to ancient history. By the time she was my age, my mum had been propositioned with marriage a total of nine times. My total currently stands at a heartbreaking zero. (Not that I am necessarily angling for a proposal, just a drink would be fine.) What am I doing wrong, I ask myself. But I don't think it's me, I think it's the men. I think that chivalry has died.

Wikipedia defines chivalry as, "related to the medieval institution of knighthood. It is usually associated with ideals of knightly virtues, honour and courtly love."

Now that's what I'm talking about.

What has happened to all these men who would go to the ends of the earth for a shot at their beau?

In part I blame technology for the breakdown in genuine asking-out-on-a-date communication. Instead of having to actually speak to a girl in person, it's just too easy for the 21st century man to opt for a text, usually of an extremely general nature, at worst without kisses. This can discreetly escalate into flirting and the next time you see each other, you've broken the ice and with it removed all potential for the buzz of romance at said rendezvous.

Perhaps I'm being old-fashioned expecting the guys to do the running. (We are supposed to be a generation of women taking life by the reins after all.)

It is films that are to blame for shaping my expectations thus. From my own experience, I think they give us laydeez higher hopes than those reflected by reality.

Take Jack Dawson in Titantic. So enamoured was I with Leonardo's advances towards Ms Winslet - taking her dancing, drawing her nude, and most importantly not taking no for an answer - to the point where he froze to death so she could kick back on a piece of floating wood, I knew that he was the man for me. I promptly went home and created a shrine to him and imagined what it would be like when we met.

Its Leo's brand of tenacity and all-out abandon that girls are looking for in their men. But, alas, fair maidens, these guys are few and far between. Yet am I to meet one in my dating career, which would probably be considerably more insightful had more men had the balls to ask me out.

We're way past the juvenile antics of pushing over the girl you fancy in the playground, and surely by now, should be able to master the art of arranging a date.

So, come on chaps, pull your finger out and show us some good old-fashioned courage.

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