Many people still follow the old model of men doing all the heavy lifting when it comes to proposing; statistics reveal that women only propose in about 5% of heterosexual married couples. And, yes, it is a custom that is really important to many individuals. But, given that proposing is a major decision that might affect the rest of your life, why would 95% of women who presumably want to marry wait for it to happen? Perhaps it’s because women are still shunned for defying traditional relationship expectations. Aside from tradition, there’s an obvious (and concerning) reason why women don’t propose: a social antipathy to aggressive women, particularly in the love realm. Women are taught to wait rather than rush or “trap” men; girls are warned against coming across as “bossy”; and women, even in the highest levels of industry and government, have their voices stomped. Women are taught that being assertive is a weakness, and that being assertive in a relationship is even worse.
