Ah the holiday season is upon us and with it, the array of television commercials for engagement rings. Prior to five years ago, I scoffed at the overly sentimental and sappy nature of these commercials and vowed that I would never be the sucker for marriage. That attitude has left me now, just when I am most in need of it, but that is another story altogether. Have you ever noticed something about these engagement commercials? In every single one, there is a man featured buying his perfect ring for the woman he will get down on one knee and ask to marry him.
Here we are in 2014, enlightened and supposedly over stereotypes, and yet we continue to perpetuate them via the most powerful influencer in our lives (that too is another story). Where are the commercials showing a man buying his perfect ring for his husband to be or the woman buying the right diamond for the woman who has captured her heart and soul? Or how about even a more shocking one - the one of the woman purchasing the ring for the man she's about to get down on one knee for and profess her undying love for? I am not saying that the majority of engagement ring advertisements have to be these "alternative" commercials, but couldn't we have one mixed in there on mainstream television every so often? Have we even thought how these one-sided commercials are damaging the beliefs of the next generation? From the perspective of a gay or lesbian individual, these commercials continue to show a one-sided view on what marriage can be and how love is identified. If you are a young man wanting to ask your boyfriend or a young woman wanting to ask your girlfriend that big question, the only real examples of it you see continue to be the heterosexual dialogue. Think of how limiting that must be. I know not everyone supports the rights of two people of the same sex to marry, but even if you are heterosexual, this continued perpetuation of the one way to love and show love damages both men and women. Straight men are brainwashed into believing that it is their responsibility to ask the woman and to spend ridiculous amounts of money to show their love is worthy enough. Women are shown to be unable to take action on their own and to be at their hearts selfish. How empowering would an add be to young women everywhere to show them asking the man? Of course, commercials and advertisements aren't made to enlighten us, but to sell us something. Perhaps if companies refuse to change the dialogue for enlightenment and wisdom maybe they should think of the money they might be able to make if they produce and regularly show such ads. After all, if more individuals believe they have the power to ask someone else, that's more rings you can sell. I guess it's just a sad commentary all around about how we tend to shape our destinies through mass culture and commercialism.
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