By Dr. Charles Alonzo Peters
It seems when it comes to love size does matter. At least when it comes to the engagement ring.
We’ve been caught up in one of the greatest marketing ploys of all time. Right up there with paying a 1000% markup to drink water from a plastic bottle.
You know the typical Hollywood script. The newly engaged woman bursting at the seams waiting to dish the news to her girlfriends. The scene ending with everyone oooh-ing and ahhh-ing over a rock larger than the size of Texas.
For some women the ring bling has become a status symbol. They may not like to admit but a big ring lets them preen like a peacock. “Yes I have a man and he loves me. See the size of my ring?”
Can’t blame them. We men show off all the time, whether it’s with our clothes, our cars, or our b-ball game.
But the funny thing about diamonds is that their price is artificially inflated. Diamonds in fact aren’t all that rare. The De Beers diamond cartel at one point controlled 90% of the world’s diamonds. It was this monopoly power and advertising genius that had us paying big bucks to declare our love and devotion.
They’ve even help perpetrate the “rule” all good men should follow. A diamond ring should set a man back at least two to three months salary. Now how you gonna have the nerve to tell us how much cash to spend?
And the pressure on a brotha to purchase a decent ring is intense. Give your sweetie a pebble and you’ll be scorned for life. Her friends will give you thooose looks – “There goes that the cheap Negro.”
And to top it off many men have to make the purchase when they’re relatively young, just starting off in life, not yet making the top dollar.
But that doesn’t matter for DeBeers, Jared, Tiffany and the other diamond leeches with their 100% to 300% mark-ups. Like it or not they’ve made the diamond a symbol of our love. Maybe a diamond revolt is in order.
Perhaps the upgrade plan is the smart choice for some of us: start off small then upgrade the ring at 5, 15, and 25 years when the income better matches the rock size. Perhaps another gemstone could do the job and it would grab attention at a fraction of the price.
Now I hear what some of you are saying. “This cheap Black man complaining about the price of my ring – what nerve. I don’t see him writing about how I don’t get paid enough to keep a home, work a job, and put up with my man’s crap.”
And to that I say – perhaps you have a point.
Women put up with a lot. Perhaps a brotha should have to shell out some major dough. You know, as a down payment for all the future triflng stuff he’s bound to put his woman through later.
And if a man truly loved you wouldn’t he have the right mind to save up ahead of time?
So BMWK, how do feel about the rock? Does the size of the ring matter? Would you’ve been disappointed if your man had proposed with an undersized rock? Have any of you considered a rock other than a diamond?
Every Monday you can find great insight and tips on managing your greenbacks by Dr. Charles Alonzo Peters of MochaMoney.com here on BlackandMarriedWithKids.com.