Stupid traditions

[naath]

So apparently no-one wanted to own up to not-knowing that on Feb 29th it is Traditional that Women May Propose To Men; whereas "of course" the rest of the time They May Not and Men must Do The Proposing. (one person went for the "I've watched too much Malcolm in the Middle" option).

A further poll:

Poll #9723

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 27

View Respondents

This tradition is daft?

View Answers

Not at all; it's just right.
1 (3.7%)

Yes; anyone can propose to anyone anytime they please
26 (96.3%)

Yes; it is too lax - women should never be able to propose
0 (0.0%)

Yes; other - proposals should be constrained by some other rule
1 (3.7%)

I don't care enough to have an opinion
2 (7.4%)

Feel free to insert your suggestions for other proposal related rules in the comments :)

Comments

[lnr]

It is pretty daft, but following a daft tradition can nevertheless be (on occasion) romantic or touching - if it means something to you. It can be a fun excuse.

[ptc24]

My double vote is motivated by the same thought.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

I knew it but I couldn't be bothered to log into Dreamwidth and tell you. I did get the Malcolm in the Middle reference :)

[naath.livejournal.com]

Whilst I couldn't be bothered to edit the LJ entry to have a separate LJ poll 'cos Lazy :-p

I get an earworm of that theme whenever I'm asked a yes/no question. annoying.

[meirion.livejournal.com]

I didn't even realise it was related to proposing! *feels monumentally stupid* (OTOH was also hideously sleep-deprived at the time thanks to the GP practice's ineptitude in losing my attempt to get a repeat prescription out of them).

[the-alchemist.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I see that thinking the tradition is non-stupid is incompatible with believing anyone can propose to anyone anytime they please. Anyone can eat Easter eggs any time they please, but I'm still glad there's a specific day for it (secular version) and a specific 8 or 50 days for it (Christian versions).

In fact I'm sure they're not incompatible, because I don't think think the tradition's stupid, but it didn't stop me from proposing to my husband on the day when I should have been eating Easter eggs.

[naath.livejournal.com]

OK, I guess... I put the question in a silly way. I was thinking that if I thought the tradition was Good I would believe that I shouldn't propose (should I have any interest in doing so) any other day and that if I didn't think it was Good I would think it was Daft... fallacy of the excluded middle, mea culpa.

I do think it's different in feel to me than traditions about things like Easter Eggs; I think because there seems to be more social pressure to hold to it (that is, to (as a woman) not propose most of the time). Also I somehow feel it's a more harmful sort of thing to make rules about; which is weird because making rules about food can clearly be really very harmful indeed to some people.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Oh, good description. Hm. OK, I think I change my mind; the societal convention that men propose and women don't is still problematical, but I don't have to blame Feb 29th for it :)

(Although as I said before, even if you do think it's bad to have a special day when something is "allowed", it's not clear that deleting that day is the best way of fixing the problem. Or to put it another way, sometimes the current best possible compromise is ridiculous, but that doesn't mean it's not still the best option :))

[sidheag.livejournal.com]

I didn't tick the anytime option because there are plenty of circs in which one shouldn't propose; most obviously, if one already knows the answer will be negative.