Prince charming or princess charming? There is a tradition in Scotland that women are allowed to propose to their boyfriends on Leap Year. If you’ve ever seen the movie ‘Leap Year’, Hollywood uses a cute rom-com to look at the tradition. I suppose this stems from impatience, but surprisingly enough, there is s plethora of websites and resources online that offer helpful advice for how to pop the question.
According to one website, a Korbel’s Proposal Survey of 1,000 adults, 59% said they did not feel men were the only ones who should propose; 33% said they knew a woman who had proposed; and half of the women surveyed said it would be suitable for them to pop the question.
That is a lot of non-tradition.
The tradition began in 1288, when Scotland actually passed a law allowing women to follow this tradition. And if the guy refused, he had to pay a fine. One Leap Year proposal website noted that according to English law, February 29 was a day that legal rules did not apply, and since Leap Year was used to fix a problem in the calendar, it could also be used to fix an antiquated rule that said only men were allowed to propose.
It probably could be just as memorable if the girl was spontaneous and bold and funny and did it herself, but I think she shouldn’t.
Maybe I’ve seen too many movies, but if the opportunity ever arose, I’ll let the guy do the proposing. I think it’s great for women to have empowerment and feel equal, but I think if the man is going to lead a marriage, he ought to at least lead in the first step – getting engaged.
Besides, I don’t think proposals are anything like the movies – glowing, cheesy, happily ever after sort of things. But they are an exciting beginning that always end with a good story and that’s worth following tradition.