… seeing lots of short vids in misc. "self-publishing / I need to show the world " websites …
is that really a thing in the US - or does social-media just make it seem so?
Seriously wondering…
It’s not just in the United States but instead seems to be a Western tradition. Wikipedia has an image of an 1815 German woodcut illustration of a man doing this.
I hold your hand in mine, dear. I press it to my lips. I take a healthy bite from your dainty fingertips…
An article from Brides Magazine says
The tradition of a man (or woman) proposing on one knee comes from medieval knights bowing before noblewomen as a show of respect. That said, this common gesture, accompanied by the question “Will you marry me?”, is a somewhat recent phenomenon.
Not ‘on your knees’ but on one knee, I’d say it’s pretty common. How is it done in other countries? I’m not sure where the OP hails from.
Not commonplace in the U.S., at least based on social media, which suggests that marriage proposals these days are made through giant flashing text on stadium messageboards, signs held up by fellow football players or squeaks by a team of trained dolphins.
I don’t think it’s possible to judge the frequency of anything based only on social media, which encourages the posting of over the top stuff.
ok then: do you have anybody in your family who did proposed on the knee? … or in your social circle/work/etc?
trying to get a feeling … 0.1%, 1%, 10%. 30% of all proposals done this way ??
(we are in IMHO, after all)
Never heard of anyone doing it in my social circle.
I am 68 for reference.
I did it. Went to one knee. Seemed to be the thing to do at that moment.
My sister had a b-friend propose via a towed banner behind an airplane a few years ago.
[Note they broke up soon after she accepted, tl;dr]
A couple of years ago I posted a poll asking if anyone had ever proposed or been proposed to in this way. 18% of the 78 respondents said they had experienced it.
thx, good info - numbers probably inflated by “self-selection bias” (18% would be close to 1 in 5) …
I didn’t and I don’t know if anyone in my circle who did.
I think that there is a much bigger problem with proposals than whether you should get down on your knees. A large proportion (how large is hard to determine) of proposals are turned down. Sometimes it’s because the person being proposed to is about to tell the proposer to bug off and never contact them again. There are cases in which the proposer asks the person being proposed to on their first date (and sometimes during things that don’t even constitute a date). There are cases where the person being proposed to says that it’s way too early to even discuss marriage. There are cases where the person being proposed to says that they don’t even believe in the institution of marriage.
My first husband proposed in bed, post-coital. So he went to the limit, lying down! Second husband (and my current), did do it on one knee, it was unexpected but he was a gentle person. I am still with him, and our marriage has been very successful.
I got down on one knee, per tradition. She said “yes,” and the crowd in the coffee shop applauded.
(that has to be at least 2 levels above being high-fived after sex)
Which are often accompanied by one person getting down on their knee while the other is reading the sign.
A big public proposal might be a mistake if the one being asked says no, or wants to say no but feels awkward doing so in public. So perhaps save it for a private moment?