The latent sexism of the male marriage proposal

The engagement ring is a sort of 21st-century dowry in the Western world, too. The traditional two-month salary rule not only signals a man’s interest in spending a life with his partner, it inadvertently sets the relationship up for a lifetime of inequality. It’s vestigial sexism at which no one seems to blink.

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If anything, women are more to blame for the sexism of the male proposal. Instagram and Facebook posts of sparkly rings — complete with the obligatory “oohs” and “aahs” — perpetuate the idea that women’s affections can be purchased.

So maybe it’s time for couples to rethink the meaning of engagement rings and male proposals. In a society where many wives work and keep their last names, the male proposal seems terribly antiquated.

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