To Have and To Hold

It seems like all of my friends at school are getting engaged. It seems that the south puts pressure on people to get married are at really young age. I started thinking about why men don't have to wear engagement rings and began to challenge the traditional wedding. Engagement rings are traditionally given to women to symbolize commitment, devotion, and love. Historically engagement rings represented a portion of a bride’s dowry and represented social status. Traditionally men are supposed to spend 3 months pay on a ring and propose to the woman. Today, the newest trend is men wearing engagement rings. I originally liked the concept of this. Why should women be the only ones to show everyone that they are unavailable? If an engagement ring represents commitment and devotion why should the woman be the only one wearing a ring? I don’t want my fiancé getting hit on at the bar or whenever he goes out. Shouldn’t he have to wear one if I have to? The more I thought about it, the more I don’t like the idea of men having engagement rings. I like the tradition of a man asking for your hand in marriage and proposing with an engagement ring. 

Today women have more power and it is more common for a woman to propose to her boyfriend. Some jewelry companies are even starting to manufacture engagement rings for men. I am not against the concept of men wearing engagement rings but I would never expect my fiancé to wear one. In a video on Madame Noire TV, women were asked if they would propose to a man. There were many different responses. One woman said, “ If he can’t afford a ring he can’t afford anything else or to be married”, while another woman said, “ I would definitely propose.” If women want to propose, more power to her.  I think women in today’s society have the power to take the relationship in the direction that they want. If a man is taking too long to propose, why should a woman wait for him to make up his mind and wait for him? I personally wouldn’t want to marry someone who wasn’t ready to propose.