Double Standard for Wedding Rings?

Popular media highlights the absence of a wedding ring on a married female as a sign of separation, impending divorce, and marital distress.

Woman scorned. Elin Woods is snapped without her wedding ring as she is seen…for the first time yesterday since husband Tiger admitted his infidelities. 

Actions speak louder than words and it looks like Brooke Mueller and Charlie Sheen are done…[as the] star's wife showed up…without her wedding ring.

…the first photo of Sandra Bullock without her wedding ring since her husband Jesse James' affair scandal broke.

Men on the other hand, do not receive the same scrutiny when a ring is absent.  Many married men do not own and/or do not wear wedding rings.

Does a double standard exist?  Is it customary that women wear rings and not men?  If so, are we reverting back to the historical notion that only women wear rings in order to signal that they are "taken"?

The True Meaning of Wedding Rings

Why do people wear engagement rings and wedding band?  Many theories exist as to the history of this tradition.  In American culture, rings symbolize accomplishments and celebrations. People wear rings to display children (mothers rings), graduation (class rings), commitment (promise, engagement, wedding rings), virtue (purity rings), and friendship.  The tradition of wearing rings has a long history and varies from culture to culture.

Some interesting facts about wedding rings:  
   -Women wore rings as they were property of their husband
   -Ring shapes (circles) were thought to have magical properties
   -Wedding/engagement rings are worn on the third finger of the left hand
         -frees the right hand (dominant) for work, sword fighting, etc.
         -the left hand is closest to the heart in the chest
         -Egyptians believe the 3rd finger has a straight line to the heart
   -Wedding bands cost more to produce than engagement rings, but

           retailers set prices higher on engagement rings due to consumer 

           interest

   -Average cost of engagement ring - $3,215
   -Average cost of wedding band- $1,129 (bride) & $907 (groom)
   -Most engagement rings have diamonds and more than 66% are white 

           gold  

The symbolism of wearing a wedding ring means more to some than others.  While some prefer not to wear a ring, others feel the ring is almost as important as the relationship it represents.   

                                                            

Love at First Sight

A recent study reports that women are less likely to experience "love at first sight" in comparison to men.

Researchers hypothesized that men are more likely to fall in love in the early stages of a relationship, in part to signal commitment to a female partner. 

Women likely to fall in love at first sight were those with high sex drives and/or those who were highly attracted to partners. Overall, both men and women who placed great value on attractiveness and sex were more likely to experience love at first sight. 

The results of this study demonstrate that the idea of “love at first sight” may actually be “lust at first sight.”

Toxic Friendships

According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2009), friendships are intimate relationships with a mutual concern for the welfare and wellbeing of the other. Some things that friends may do for each other: spend time, perform duties, give advice, etc. Most importantly, friends genuinely want the best for each other.

Friendships that lose this most important relationship feature may become toxic. Toxic friendships lack sincerity, compassion, concern, and support. They do us more harm than good. Toxic friends are overly critical (of themselves and others), perpetually negative, very competitive, jealous and spiteful, self-involved, abusive, and often unapologetic.

Signs of a toxic friendship:
      Are emotionally drained after contact with your friend?
      Is your friend consistently negative in their interactions with you?
      Do you make bad decisions when with them? Or by their influence?
      Are your friends and family opposed to spending time with this person?
      Do you feel that you give more than you get in this relationship?
      Are your needs often unmet in the friendship with this person?

If you can answer yes to 2 or more of these questions, it may be time to clean up some hazardous material!