"過時的性別角色習俗，求婚"

現代社會講求政治正確性，而且女性已經在許多領域裡獲得平等待遇，然而卻有一個習俗仍然不斷驕傲地重申傳統性別角色：求婚。全球各地大部分的女性都會耐心地等待她們的男朋友先提出這個問題，而且在西方世界裡，一般人都認為男性應該跪在地上並且開口求婚。

然而社會評論家，KS海莫維茲表示這個古代習俗仍然保存到現在其實是一件非常奇怪的事。她寫道：「現代知識經濟工作場所充滿著女性高階主管。她們管理公司並且主持會議，男性秘書的工作則是抄筆記，甚至倒咖啡。」對於求婚習俗，她解釋這畢竟只是一個配對儀式，但卻強迫我們回到一個更符合獸性和本能的性別角色。

海莫維茲列出了兩種求婚方式，一種是喧鬧和引人注目的，另一種則是安靜和親密的。前者將男性豎立成具有權勢的個體，然而後者，如果做得恰當，則可以展現男性的聰明和敏銳。「求婚儀式強迫男性把自己表現得思維細膩、有能力、充滿愛意和真誠。換句話說就是他會成為一位好先生和好父親。」

(Culture) The Proposal Provides a Throwback to Old-Fashioned Gender Roles

In the modern world, where political correctness reigns and women have gained equality in a raft of different areas, one practice proudly reasserts the traditional gender roles: the marriage proposal. Around the world, by and large, women patiently wait for their boyfriends to pop the question, and in the West, men are still expected to do the asking after getting down on bended knee.

Its bizarre, says social commentator Kay S. Hymowitz, that this ancient tradition is being kept alive. The knowledge economy workplace, she writes, is now filled with offices where women are on top. They manage companies and run meetings while male secretaries take notes and maybe even fetch coffee. She offers an explanation for this by saying that the nature of a proposal V it is, after all, a mating rite V forces us back into our more animalistic, natural gender roles.

Hymowitz identifies two different types of proposal, the loud and showy, and the quiet and intimate. The former establishes the man as a powerful individual, while the latter, if done properly, will demonstrate his intelligence and sensitivity. The proposal provides a ritual forcing him to show that he is thoughtful, capable, loving, and sincere. In other words, that he will be a good husband and father.

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