With the advent of different birth control methods, modern women now have complete control over their bodies and the ability to have children only when they are ready. Many are also are highly educated professionals that do not have to depend on anyone else to take care of their needs. So, why is it, at this time in our history, that American women still feel the need to sit around fretting and waiting for their boyfriends to pop the question?
There are many reasons a woman should consider proposing. Sometimes it is just better for a woman to know where she stands. On the other hand, perhaps she is in a better place financially than he is, and she feels that financial worries are keeping him from purchasing a ring. Whatever the situation may be, the younger crowd seems to gravitate towards sharing typical gender roles without embarrassment.
Many jewelry stores are catching on to the fact that women are now viable customers in the engagement market. With their own money to spend, plus more freedom than ever to choose their own life path, marketing lines of male engagement rings only seems logical.
Women Want Other Women to Know that Their Fiancée is Taken
Female-initiated proposals are not the only reason male engagement rings have become popular items in jewelry stores. Many women these days are offended by the notion that engagement rings indicate to any potentially interested men that they are now considered “taken,” while their significant other displays no such “off-limits” sign to any approaching ladies.
Not only is it considered offensive to some feminists that an engagement ring implies that a woman is marked as a man’s property, but it is equally inconceivable that men can easily pretend to be unattached if the need arises. The solution? Many couples purchase matching engagement rings, regardless of who proposed to whom.
Sometimes Men Feel Slighted
In the late 1990s, many men came to terms with the fact that they liked to dress up and enjoy nice things like jewelry. The men that admittedly enjoyed the finer things in life were eventually dubbed by the media as “metrosexuals.”
Now it is commonplace to see men donning jewelry and designer clothing. As such, some men feel slighted that their girlfriends get to receive a beautiful ring, while they get nothing out the transaction. Some women buy their fiancées matching rings as a way to say they care, while some men just purchase their own rings as part of a set along with the woman’s.
Gay Marriage is now Legal in Many States
Male engagement rings have taken on a whole new meaning now that gay marriage has become law in several states. What better way for one boyfriend to propose to another than with a beautiful diamond ring made just for the occasion? Jewelry stores in progressive states like Massachusetts and New York have been known to promote the idea in celebration of diversity.
The Younger Generation Favors Creating New Traditions
Overall, this generation is one known for bucking tradition and forging its own path. Millennials, as a group, have been pushing the proverbial envelope when it comes to giving up the cherished traditions of prior generations.
This development is not necessarily a bad thing. At one time, the diamond engagement ring itself was something new and unheard of, and look how that turned out! It was also seen as a fad in its time, so it’s hard to predict the longevity of engagement rings for men just yet.
