But is proposing old hat? Today is leap day, when women are encouraged to propose to men. But some say asking someone to marry you is simply old-fashioned.
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Leap of love: the day women pop the question
But is proposing old hat? Today is leap day, when women are encouraged to propose to men. But some say asking someone to marry you is simply old-fashioned.
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What's happening?
Queen Victoria. Britney Spears. Elizabeth Taylor. Judge Judy.
They all have just one thing in common. They all asked their husbands-to-be to marry them!
Today, 29 February, is a leap day. It happens only once every four years. Lots of countries have traditionsA way of doing something or a set of ideas that has been happening for many years. or superstitionsBelief or practices that are not entirely based on facts or reality. about leap day.
In some places, the tradition is for women to proposeSuggest something, often marriage. marriage to men - instead of men proposing to women.
More women are proposing than ever. In 2010, a surveyWhen you ask a group of people questions about what they think about a particular topic. found that just 5% of women in the UK had proposed to their partners; by 2019, this number had tripled to 16%.2
Find out more
But is marriage itself now old-fashioned? In 2022, for the first time ever, less than half of adults in England and Wales were married or in a civil partnershipA legal union between two people who are not related. .
But is proposing old hat?
Yes! Marriage is an old-fashioned tradition invented in a time when women did not have any freedom to make their own choices.
No! Many people today still want to get married and show their love for each other. The fact that women are proposing shows that marriage can change to fit the modern world.
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Keywords
Traditions - A way of doing something or a set of ideas that has been happening for many years.
Superstitions - Belief or practices that are not entirely based on facts or reality.
Propose - Suggest something, often marriage.
Survey - When you ask a group of people questions about what they think about a particular topic.
Civil partnership - A legal union between two people who are not related.
Leap of love: the day women pop the question
I do? : Amy Adams proposes to Matthew Goode in the 2010 romantic comedy Leap Year. Glossary
Traditions - A way of doing something or a set of ideas that has been happening for many years.
Superstitions - Belief or practices that are not entirely based on facts or reality.
Propose - Suggest something, often marriage.
Survey - When you ask a group of people questions about what they think about a particular topic.
Civil partnership - A legal union between two people who are not related.