St Valentine’s Day – for so many women, a time of forlorn hope.

Several years ago I read an account by a woman who owned a large New York flower shop; she said that 25% of all the flowers she sold on St Valentine’s Day were paid for by women who sent the flowers to themselves. How sad! These women must feel so alone and unwanted by any man. Truly we live in unromantic times.

But romance was another casualty of the feminist attack on society and on marriage in particular. I recently saw the results of a poll on chivalry in the workplace which aimed at getting women’s views on the matter. So many said they’d love men to open doors for them, to pull out a chair for them in a restaurant, to offer their seat on a bus or to help them on with their coat. In mid-twentieth century such acts of courtesy were common but in the sixties feminism was let loose and “equality” was the watchword. I remember in an episode of one of the very early Australian “soaps”, a man opening a door for a young woman, only to be told, “I’m quite capable of opening a door for myself thank you!”  It was thus that the feminist media killed off chivalry.

Today, with marriageable women outnumbering marriageable men in the UK, the well-known jewelry chain, H.Samuel, have just launched a new type of engagement ring – FOR MEN! It’s called the Tioro ring – a titanium band embedded with a diamond which costs £80.

Samuel’s based this launch on the well known fact that today women have to make a lot of the running if they want to get a man; it’s women who have to shape up. Many are now so desperate in their chase for a mate that they are often the ones who “pop the question”, and if his “yes” is forthcoming, they buy him a ring. Of course it’s also a way of warning other women that their man is spoken for, though rings can easily be removed in some circumstances. Who knows? The way things are going, we might soon hear of some men making a collection of engagement rings like some women have in the past. Could diamonds end up being a BOY’s best friend?

I know of one man who will be getting his usual Valentine’s card today from the partner he’s been living with for over twenty years. Every card carries the request to him to marry her but they are still just living together. It’s possible that this year she might offer to buy him an engagement ring.