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In this episode, we will cover the viral Tiktok series of a woman proposing to her boyfriend after 14 years and 4 children together. We will explore why women proposing to men feels fundamentally wrong to so many and why that feeling is valid. Drawing on sociology, personal anecdotes, and research on domestic labor and maternal mortality, we argue that women's intuition doesn't need to be intellectualized to be legitimate. We examine how the "we're equal now" narrative erases the reality that women still shoulder the majority of domestic and caregiving work in heterosexual marriages, and how pregnancy and childbirth carry real, measurable risks. At its core, we frame a man's proposal not as outdated tradition, but as a crucial test of his readiness and willingness to show up in a partnership where women are already carrying so much.

keywords:

women proposing to men, gender roles in relationships, marriage proposals and equality, female intuition and women's instinct validation, the sociology of marriage proposals, domestic labor, Pierre Bourdieu habitus theory, finding your soul before your soulmate, viral TikTok proposal

Substack articles mentioned:

“The Sociology of Begging Someone to Marry You” - https://tellthebeees.substack.com/p/the-sociology-of-begging-someone

“find your soul before your soulmate” - https://hasifff.substack.com/p/find-your-soul-before-your-soulmate