I could perhaps make this a GQ but I don’t know there is an objective factual answer, so here we are.
Yesterday I was sitting with a large number of colleagues including a number of young women (25-35) some married some not. We had been watching a dull training video on legal research, with a female presenter. I won’t go into the backstory too much but one way or another the question of whether the presenter was married arose, and several if not all the young women in the room said of course she was, she had been wearing a wedding ring. I said I wouldn’t have noticed this in a million years. The men agreed. Many if not all the young women looked at us like morons and said words to the effect that it was “the first thing you looked at, natch”.
So two questions of women dopers. Firstly do you do this? Secondly, why? The reason you might check whether men you meet are wearing a wedding ring is obvious, particularly if you are yourself single. But why other women, so avidly?
Because the rings are pretty and sparkly, natch. That and women like to size other women up, don’t know why. Part of that is seeing the size and awesomeness of their wedding/engagement ring.
I check for a wedding ring on everyone I meet, men and women. It’s an easy way to tell something fairly important about them right away, without having to ask or guess (if they wear one - if they don’t, I’m no further behind).
Plus, pretty and sparkly.
ETA: Did you know that women look at men’s shoes, too?
I’m female, but I suspect other women would rather disown me.
I actually do not notice wedding rings.
The reason I miss them on women, I think, is because women already wear jewelry all the time; a ring on that finger isn’t necessarily a wedding ring. And I rarely notice men’s rings, unless I just happen to notice it for some other reason. But…I’m goofy that way. Someone would have to cut off 6 inches of hair and dye the rest purple for me to notice, I think. I’m very Mr. Magoo’ish that way.
I check - but not for any particular purpose - most people talk with their hands and it catches my eye - but I also tend to scan what people are wearing in general as I’m interested in fashion. And sometimes the sparklies are very sparkly!
Checking men for rings is only important if you’re single and he’s appealing. As for other women, the only reason I can imagine looking to see if she’s wearing a wedding ring is to size up the potential competion for said appealing men.
It provides some context, I think. I’m really interested in people’s stories. Knowing whether they’re married sometimes makes sense of a position they take in conversation. Occasionally there are people that make you think “huh, they can’t be easy to live with”.
I don’t look at the size of the gem as a rule - it only tells me how much the couple could afford if appearances are important to them. My own ring isn’t much to look at, because we chose ‘understated’.
Ditto. I never, ever check women for rings and would hardly notice. Besides, the rings women wear, how could you be sure if they were wedding rings? And in this day and age not everyone gets married or even wears a ring to signify their commitment, anyway.
I don’t notice. In fact, the BBQ pit thread watch cracked me up (there was an argument over expensive watches) because people were spending thousands ofl dollars on watches, presumably to impress people, and I don’t notice watches either.
Don’t notice for men or women. And don’t think it necessarily means much. I’m married and don’t always wear my ring - and when I was single, I’d wear a “wedding ring” if I was doing something like a bachelorette party (some people DO check and it cuts down on the hassle).
I’ll usually notice the existence (or lack of) a wedding/engagement ring after talking to someone for a while, or if I happen to glance at their hands for some reason, but it’s not the first thing I look for.
I don’t usually make a point of checking on either men or women, and if I do, it’s just out of idle curiosity.
Mr. S recently started wearing his wedding ring on his RIGHT hand because it became uncomfortable on his left (for boring reasons I won’t go into). Works for me, but any woman who’s checking him out that way might miss it. It’s a plain gold band and pretty obviously a wedding ring, though.
Okay, it looks like I’m the odd woman out - won’t be the first time. I am an extremely observant person, though, when it comes to looking at other people. I notice everything about everyone else.
