Erin Seils|
According to Irish legend, February 29th is the only day when a woman can ask a man to marry her.
Legend has it, after St Bridget complained to him that a woman couldn’t propose, St Patrick told her that females would be permitted to propose to their partners once every four years on 29th February.
Danish folklore says that any man who rejects a woman’s proposal on this day must pay a fine of 12 pairs of gloves to the woman. Some believe this was to save the woman the embarrassment of showing a finger that didn’t bear a ring.
Allegedly, Scots law used to say that any woman who plans to propose on the 29th must wear a red petticoat to warn their chosen man that they are about to propose. This law is said to have been imposed in 1288 by Queen Margaret. However, this is quite unlikely as Margaret would have been only five years old at this time.
But why should the 29th of February be the only day that women can propose? In today’s 21st century society, where old customs are quickly being disregarded, why is this particular tradition still simply accepted by so many?
Molly Gibney, a newly engaged woman from Bristol, explains why she decided to pop the question today.
“We’ve talked about marriage a lot, but I decided to do it on 29 February, since that’s true to tradition.”
Paul, her husband-to-be, though surprised, was touched and happily accepted Molly’s proposal.
Another happy couple are Emilia and Rodrigo Ribeiro from Brazil. Emilia proposed underwater in a river in Bonito, Brazil while on a guided scuba diving tour of the river. Emilia went against tradition and didn’t propose on the 29th of February.
“Society is designed so the man needs to propose to the woman – but the man proposing doesn’t make your marriage more or less romantic.
Women need to be confident – people can waste so much time thinking, “When is he going to propose to me?” and creating lots of expectations. I think if you want something done, you can go out there and do it yourself.”
So could 2016 be the time for change? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
