Nobody wants heterosexual women to propose, study shows

A study researched by University of California, Santa Cruz students found that not a single straight man or woman "definitely" wanted a proposal in which a woman asked the man to marry. They also found that 60 percent of women are willing to change their surname to their husband's while 64 percent of men said they were unwilling to do the same for their wives.

From the 277 heterosexual undergraduate student participants surveyed, 41 percent of women and 57 percent of men referenced traditional gender roles in their explanations to why they would want a man to propose. Women cited "romance" as to why they wanted men to propose and also because they had a fear of rejection.

Researchers found the ideas of the people surveyed are perpetuated by benevolent sexism, a chivalrous attitude toward women.

I was slightly surprised at the findings of this research. I thought in our modern society there certainly would be more women willing to propose to men. But how can I forget that marriage has always been rooted in patriarchy. Girls learn from a very young age that marriage is a necessary milestone and a part of going through that process is getting proposed to by a man on one knee offering a diamond ring. That is the overarching tradition that women only know and would feel abnormal if they proposed.