CARNAL NATION

According to ABC News more men are donning rings as an indication that they are off the market. Though women have traditionally worn flashy diamond engagement bands as a symbol of their upcoming nuptials, man-gagement rings are relatively rare in North America. This growing trend reflects a more common European tradition in which both men and women exchange gold bands upon their engagement. 

While the new male bands may be seen as a marketing ploy to encourage you to part with more of your hard-earned cash, Brad Gross of H.L. Gross & Bro. Jewelers suggests that man-gagement rings are more about levelling the playing field. "If you think about it, a woman is engaged and wears an engagement ring on her finger, oftentimes (for) north of a year,” argues Gross. “And a guy's engaged during that same time and walks into a bar as a free man ... so I think for $350, $400 for a woman to claim her territory, it's catching on pretty quickly." 

Gross admits that most men who shop for engagement bands in his Garden City-based store are accompanied by their future wives. In fact, he suggests that many of them are “dragged in.”  While it may seem fair that both men and women wear rings as a symbol of their non-single status, critics suggest that bands are merely material markers of possession. Regardless of your views on marriage and ownership, as celebrities like Jennifer Hudson embrace the trend, we can expect the price tag and number of man-bands to continue to grow even in a lagging economy.