What do lesbians and straight men do on their knees that straight woman can't?
Propose! In lieu of all that is violent and romantic, The Atlantic ran a piece on the history on the ‘man-gagement ring’ on Valentine’s Day to explain its failure to launch. Why? Well, we live in a weird world.
Amy Adams fans, rest assure – we remember Leap Year. For those of you that don’t, this rom-com is (spoiler alert) all about a woman who proposes to a dude on leap day because an Irish legend gave her the green light. Only leap day, once every four years – no other day ever. The Atlantic reported that most men rocking an engagement ring are gay or had expressed envy over their fiancé’s fine piece of bling. Clearly, this isn’t a huge market.
If the jewelry industry wants to sell more man-gagement rings, it may need to run ads coaxing women to pop the question.
It’s nice in theory, but is it feasible? A study at UC Santa Cruz (i.e. the raging naked hippie university – their mascot is a f*cking banana slug for chrissakes) found that - in their group of hetero guys and gals - a whopping 0% said they really wanted to woman to propose. Why? Gender roles were important in determining this. Dudes apparently felt less manly. With advice like this, it’s no surprise:
Proposing is a man’s game. Period … No matter how progressive and forward your girlfriend may be, there are certain laws in the universe that shouldn’t be trifled with. –Askmen.com
The rock-solid "reasoning" behind this Medieval crap? Nobody wants to be:
that guy in a group of couples who has to meekly say 'My wife proposed to me' when you’re sharing your engagement stories. Everyone might nod their head and smile politely, but every guy at the table will think you’re a towering wimp.
Why does it have to be "meekly?!" Why can't he say "my smoking hot brilliant b*tch of a wife proposed to be and made my f*cking day?! She wasn't gonna sit around and wait; she knew what she wanted — me — so she stepped up and popped the question.
I mean, damn!
But the trend is undeniable despite our rantings. Maybe it’s a money thing — the median annual earnings for men was $49,398 compared to women’s $37,791 in 2012. Or perhaps it’s the fact that gender roles still exist even when it comes to divvying up chores. How many husbands do the household laundry? We’ve fought to vote, earn more, go to college, play certain sports — how come no one is fighting this? Maybe we like the part of deeply rooted sexism that allows us to feel like princesses while giving them the "upper hand." Better yet, maybe it’s just because we’re um, more emotional creatures and none of us could make it through a ‘will you marry me’ speech without sobbing and shooting snot rockets of love.
Even though we can't see women proposals becoming the norm any time soon, we're down for men to start sporting engagement rings. Why not? Add a 'lil Snoop Dogg French tip, and you've got a man to be reckoned with.
Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Engagement_rings_phot...
