Just pointing out that this also varies by the culture you’re raised in. In places where the women do not change their last names, having a kid with the same last name implies the dad is unknown, or out of the picture.
That may be so, but I did not come from a cultural mecca, I come from small-town Pennsylvania, where immigrants are few and far between.
Ah HA! I knew a couple guys who wore it on their right hands were Dutch when the other poster mentioned it, but that didn’t explain the rest. But quite a few of the other ones were left-handed, so I bet that’s it. Very cool!
My partner and I have been together almost 23 years, and neither of us cares about jewelry or symbols of our relationship. But we decided that if same-sex marriage is ever legal in this state, we’d get married and exchange rings.
But not on our fingers.
I’ve been married for 17 years, and I wear my ring always. The only time it leaves my finger is if I’m doing some sort of work where having a ring on my finger might cause problems. Then I’ll take it off, put it aside, and put it back on as soon as I’m done.
I’m lucky in that over here, the future mother-in-law is supposed to buy the rings. She took us to one of her favorite gold shops in Chinatown for ours. Just wedding rings, though; no engagement ring was ever involved.
Male here, despite the username.
Will be married for 39 years on Saturday. The ring was put on my finger at the altar and never removed until last June when I broke several fingers and had to have surgery and it was in the way. Put it back on a couple of weeks later and hopefully won’t take it off ever again.
I never had a ring before I got married, but, getting used to it was no problem. I am still incredibly happy to be married and let people know.
I wear my wedding ring to work and on the way home from work but take it off at home and when at the office. I just can’t stand the feel of jewelry on me for a sustained period of time. If we’re visiting the in-laws I’ll wear it, of course, or if we’re all doing something together as a family then I’ll wear it, but I feel more comfortable without it. I’ll also wear it when I travel overseas on business or with my wife.
My wife knew that I don’t like to wear any kind of jewelry or watches long before we were married so we spent a lot of time trying to find a wedding ring that I really liked the look of in the hopes that I could keep it on my finger for any length of time. It took a while but we eventually found a ring, made by a German company, Breuning, which was a rose gold and white gold mix - very simple yet elegant.
I like it a lot, but I just can’t keep it on my finger all day. I’ve never tried but I don’t think I’d be able to sleep with it on.
I’ve never been married, but if I ever do, I won’t wear a ring. I don’t wear any jewelry, even a watch. It’s terribly distracting. Likewise, I would NOT spend thousands of dollars on a wedding ring for my wife, unless I happened to be a millionaire at the time. If you refuse to marry me for these reasons, then you’re probably marrying me for the wrong reason anyway.
My SO is divorced, has been for years. But when he travels to meetings and conferences, he puts ON a wedding band, because he says in his industry NOT being married is more of a problem, so he tells people he is. Plus it works to deter SOME women from hitting on him. Problem for me is, some of the people he works with have met his friend Beth when she has helped out at his trade show booth and they assume she is his wife. So I worry that if they then meet ME, they will think he is cheating on HER!
My ex-husband could not wear his wedding ring because of his job. I never had a problem with that, because my dad had the same issue. But my ex cheated like crazy! When he left me and married one of his flings, she made him wear the ring all the time. But the ironic thing was that it was the same ring he had used for our wedding…it was his dad’s! I thought that was so odd…she was so jealous of our former relationship, I couldn’t imagine she wouldn’t insist on a fresh ring! When she dumped his sorry butt, he gave the ring to our son. I never took off my wedding rings from the day I found out I was pregnant with our first child until the afternoon of the dissolution. Have a small scar as a reminder. I gave the stone to my daughter for her wedding ring.
I’m a woman and I frequently don’t wear my wedding ring. I don’t like rings, especially when I’m playing tennis because it snags on my leg when I try to put the ball up my skirt. (Yes, that’s what we do.)
To me, the confines of my marriage were entered into voluntarily and nothing about that 4mm band shackles me more than my honor.
My father hasn’t worn his ring for awhile because it needs resized, and he just hasn’t had a chance to take get it done. (My dad has really swollen, heavy knuckles)
That doesn’t mean my dad isn’t devoted to my mother.
My wife and I both wear our wedding rings. Mine has come off once in nearly six years, just for a bit of a cleaning. I dislike jewelry in general, but I had no problem getting used to the ring.
For what it’s worth, my wife did not change her name. This was largely on aesthetic grounds, though. Her name is quite lovely: if she changed it, it would be something like Tomoko Goldberg.
Wear mine except for the rare occasions where it causes problems…hard labor, poser equipment, MRIs.
I’ve never known a ring to prevent stepping out on the spouse. If you are going to do that, a ring won’t change anything.
It also strikes me that having one’s ring on in a hotel bar while traveling might be advantageous. It signals that anything that happens will likely be no strings sex with no chance of further attachment. If you’re into that sort of thing, well, a ring is golden.
Dad hasn’t got a wedding ring so far as I know. Mum has always worn hers and probably couldn’t get it off her finger now if she wanted to, what with her arthritic joints. She has a diamond engagement ring but I’ve never known her to wear it (and probably couldn’t now if she wanted to). They are / were lower middle class, Anglo, protestant, married in Australia in 1969.
I suppose as a result of coming from those norms, I wouldn’t want to have to wear a ring if married, but I would expect my wife to. I don’t wear any jewellery and would find it awkward. Something else to discuss with the girlfriend, I reckon.
Come December I’ll have been married for 15 years. For the vast majority of the time, I haven’t worn my ring. Even when I do wear it, I take if off frequently for safety reasons, so I’ve never really gotten comfortable with it.
This reminds me; we moved about two months ago and I have no idea where it is right now.
I’m an electrician, so I don’t wear my ring. I also knew a guy who degloved his finger because of his ring.
If you want to be disgusted google “degloved finger” images.
The vast majority of people in countries where the Eastern Orthodox Church is traditionally the majority religion, and immigrants from those countries who live in the U.S. (and likely in othe places, though I have much less experience with other places). I’ve even known third-generation Serbian-Americans who wear their wedding rings on the right hand.
snicker I have an Indian friend (born and raised here) who almost exclusively dates white girls. He’s traditional and wants whoever he marries to take his name. I can’t wait for the presence of a Jessica Venkatachalam or an Emily Bhattacharya.
I wear mine probably less than half the time. I’ve always disliked any kind of restriction on my fingers or wrists (I even take my watch off to eat, or to type) and a ring bothers me when using my hands for just about anything. I always have it with me, though.