Wedding ring poll

[philmophlegm]

Apparently Prince William won't have a wedding ring when he gets married. This is seen in some quarters as very strange, even suspicious. I don't have a wedding ring either, and I sometimes get similar reactions, but not from men.


[Poll #1725568]

Comments

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

My Dad doesn't have one so I grew up thinking it was odd if a man did!

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

Same for me.

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

I think it's helpful for married men to wear wedding rings, because then nobody's going to start chatting them up through not knowing... but I wouldn't want to dictate to anyone.

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

Tragically, that's never happened to me in eleven years of ring-free marriage!

[king-of-wrong.livejournal.com]

On the flip side, it also acts as a recommendation: "this man is considered a suitable mate by at least one woman"

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

Yes, well, that's not really saying much. So was David Mellor.

[king-of-wrong.livejournal.com]

My dad doesn't wear a wedding ring, so it certainly wouldn't seem strange not to have one.

On the other paw, my job doesn't involve manual labour and pays well enough that I can easily afford jewellery, so there are no practical reasons why it would be awkward for me to have one.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

[x] I wear it all the time, because I can't get it off. I have thick knuckles, but otherwise thin finger bones; and all my bones have grown in the last fifteen years, especially since my op.

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

See, that second sentence doesn't make me want to wear one...

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

I also think that whether a woman wears a ring or not is also up to them.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Good, cos I am married to philmophlegm and rarely wear a ring. Jewellery not enhanced by manure, cat vomit, blood or random mashed foliage, to give a random sample of things I find depressingly often on my hands.

[clarienne.livejournal.com]

I'd never heard of married men not having or wearing a wedding ring until this thread! I ticked option A, simply because if I saw a man who was married and without a ring, I'd assume that either he was concealing his marriage in order to cheat, or his marriage was in trouble. Reading the comments, clearly I am wrong in this assumption if men having no ring is quite widespread.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

My Dad has no wedding ring. None of my male cousins and uncles have wedding rings. Pellinor doesn't have a wedding ring, and at the time we got married (1994) I, perhaps naively, had never even considered the possibililty that a man might have one. I was rather surprised afterwards to find some men wearing them. Thinking about things rationally, it does of course seem silly that I accepted that a woman would wear a ring but a man not, but that's how it seemed back then.

[pellegrina.livejournal.com]

Neither of us have one and he won't wear any kind of jewellery. For a while I felt a bit wistful occasionally and sometimes wore my great-grandmother's engagement ring instead, but I hadn't even thought about it in years until this post. I didn't change my name either, though my father's subsequent behaviour has made me wish I had!

[tovaglia.livejournal.com]

I am amused by the reaction "in some quarters" to Prince W choosing not to wear a wedding ring.

I mean, it's not exactly a secret that he's getting married...

[sally_maria]

Yes, he's not exactly going to be able to go round pretending to be single...

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

And wearing a ring proved no obstacle to his parents...

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I was pleased though at the comments saying that men not wearing a ring is common among the upper classes...

[kargicq.livejournal.com]

I remember an article by the gloriously snobby Philip Howard in the Times saying something to that effect ("wedding rings for men are Charlie" or something) -N.

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

"Charlie"?

[kargicq.livejournal.com]

I know, it's bizarre. It was his catch-all term for infra-dig, chavvy or just plain "common", basically. As far as I know no link to cocaine was intended. All sorts of things which had not previously occurred to me as in any way dodgy were "Charlie" according to le Howard - male wedding rings were just the start. Ah, I used to enjoy his columns.... -N.

[king-of-wrong.livejournal.com]

"Champagne Charlie"?

As in, nouveau riche/gentleman of the four outs/not-a-gentleman-sir/money-but-no-class/etc.?

It puzzled me when it was announced that Harry would be Wills' Best Man... I thought royal weddings had a different protocol...

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

Pretty sure that Andrew was Charles's best man. Can't remember who was Edward's.

[chainmailmaiden]

Not only does Bacchus have, and wear, a wedding ring, he has, and wears, an engagement ring. He said if he was giving one to me, it seemed only fair I return the favour.

My Dad didn't have a wedding ring, mainly because he felt it wouldn't be hygienic to wear when he was working (he was a dentist). That meant it would be forever being taken on and off and would be likely to get lost, so it was easier just to do without.

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

It is entirely up to the individual, whether they are male or female. Of course how their prospective spouse feels about it does need to be taken into account, but the decision is theirs.

My Grandad was unusual in that during over fifty years of amrriage he never wore a ring, but he wore Granny's wedding ring after she died.