When a man gives a diamond engagement ring to a woman...

I figure he's merely symbolizing both his love and his intent.

he can't keep his mind on nothing else
He'll trade the world for the good thing he's found
If she is bad, he can't see it, she can do no wrong
Turn his back on his best friend if he put her down

I'm sure it's part of basic brain stem function... furthering of the genes and all that.

sexist songs of all time. Period.

Is sexist at the core. The song, however, is more telling of a man's weakness than a woman's. Please point to the sexism here:

When a man loves a woman
Can't keep his mind on nothing else
He'll trade the world
For the good thing he's found
If she's bad he can't see it
She can do no wrong
Turn his back on his best friend
If he put her down

When a man loves a woman
Spend his very last dime
Tryin' to hold on to what he needs
He'd give up all his comfort
Sleep out in the rain
If she said that's the way it ought to be

Well, this man loves a woman
I gave you everything I had
Tryin' to hold on to your precious love
Baby, please don't treat me bad

When a man loves a woman
Down deep in his soul
She can bring him such misery
If she plays him for a fool
He's the last one to know
Lovin' eyes can't ever see

When a man loves a woman
He can do no wrong
He can never own some other girl
Yes when a man loves a woman
I know exactly how he feels
'Cause baby, baby, baby, you're my world

When a man loves a woman.....

Why is it unsustainable?

Diamonds never wear out. Even if the supply of diamonds is exhausted eventually the population of human race has to become static thus the global demand for diamonds wedding rings would remain static.

choose to be buried with their diamonds. Also, a small fraction of them will be lost every year in plane crashes over deep water, people being buried in mudslides, or by being accidentally carted off to the landfill. So, the diamond supply will eventually vanish (assuming we limit ourselves to natural diamonds).

I don't see that any nonrenewable resource could actually be sustainable, but the un-sustainability might occur over a time scale that is so long as to be irrelevant.

However, I suspect the OP was referring to the environmental damage produced by diamond mining, which can be devastating but is not really a sustainability issue...

Today for example people don't burn their homes when they die "to take it with them". Instead they accept the value in real estate and pass it on to their children.

If diamonds became increasingly scarce it is likely that rings would be passed on from mother to son for example. An item to be willed.
Also as the value of diamonds rise the economics of artificial diamonds improve (not fake diamond but actual diamond produced by artificial heat & pressure).

"I don't see that any nonrenewable resource could actually be sustainable"
Only true is recycling is not possible.

Given abundant cheap energy and static population recycling could resolve most issues with "non renewable resources". Granted those are two massive challenges but one could imagine some future society where there is steel, aluminum, diamonds are routinely used however they are also routinely recycled. Unless we somehow run out of all carbon in the universe more diamonds can be produced artificially.

One could argue that water is a non-renewable resource. There is no new water entering our biosphere and the planet doesn't produce any new water yet if we cared enough for the planet to take care of it that it could support 10 billion or so people until the sun burned out (couple billion years). The planet is very good at recycling water. We need to learn from the planet.

The law of conservation of energy & mass is on the side of recycling. :)

Diamonds are being made all the time.

From your dead loved ones remains.

Known as Life Gems... As long as there are bodies, well, you know:evilgrin:

http://www.lifegem.com/?gclid=CLOYyuK366ICFR5ggwodqwSvZw

... you'll be giving her your grandmother's remains (in ring form)!

LOL

jewlery and things mean nothing to me. but i am clever enough to understand the tradition of it.

... always focus on the women with the biggest diamond rings. They're easier.

...because marriage is primarily an economic arrangement. The diamond demonstrates the man's willingness and ability to provide economic resources. The sex that invariably results from the gift to some degree demonstrates the woman's reproductive willingness and ability. Don't forget, Darwinism is at the root of all mating rituals.

Also, because women apparently like shiny things.

... than by spending a lot of money on something they don't need.

but the old roles are fading fast...

Whenever I see a woman with a big diamond engagement ring, I think, "Traditionalist."

If the woman says, "I don't need a ring," most men don't insist on her having one. (The men who WOULD insist on it, I'd worry about).

She wanted a Kitchen Aid mixer. I didn't have much money back then. We found one in a second-hand appliance store. I told her I would get it for her when I came home from court the next morning (as counsel, not defendant!) I got there at about 9:30 a.m. and it was GONE. Someone had bought it when the shop first opened. The store owner said it had been there for months. He found it strange that I would ask for it only an hour after it finally sold.

On the drive home I thought "Sweetie is not going to be happy about this." Wait a minute. Someone bought it right when the shop openned at 8:30? I'll bet when I walk into the kitchen it will be sitting on the table. Yup. Sweetie bought it and brought it home before work. I gave her the money for it. That was 2000. She still uses it.

She also kept her name since there was nothing wrong with it.

his partner that he loves her and wants there to be a sign of the commitment.

However it is also deeply creepy on a lot of levels.

but a diamond engagement ring is a tacky holdover from a bygone era...when women had to be visibly marked as "taken." But at least it's not a nose ring.

Just my 2 cents.

but I don't need a symbol of my ownership kthxbye.

Wedding rings for both, okay, it's a nice symbol.

He is being peer-pressured into sustaining a crass and commercial industry that preys on human vanity.

It's an upscale-scam that supports an industry built on blood and slave-like working conditions.


My wife wears my grandmother's ring, a very un-impressive stone from the 1920s. I'm sure I couldn't form an attachment with a woman that demanded more.

Diamonds have a created value, not an actual value.
It is possible to buy North American (arctic) diamonds if you must, to avoid the blood diamond trade.

a dog. Truth was I didn't have much money but could have borrowed. She said she wanted the dog and with the money we bought a Samoyed. That was 35 married years ago. I knew I picked right.

Told him: The wooden kind that keeps the dog in and safe from idiot drivers.

Go my wish and the dog I have always wanted is safely heading into old age, along with Havocdad and me.

I have a fence that looks like the Foreign Legion should be manning it! And we built it together. Best ring EVER!

Your wife and I would probably get along great. Sounds like a good, sensible woman with real heart.

to various people. It could and probably is part of some of the other options, but I think mainly it is expected so he does so.

Returnable upon the end of the engagement.

although very symbolic (of something I've been told) in order to get a lifetime partner. IMO she should want something more worthwhile. Diamond rings are nice, but a car is more practical.

...the engagement ring goes along with the extravagant, by-the-book wedding that puts everybody in financial stress. All that money for one day....it's such a racket.

The smart families put the money on a car, paying down a school loan, a house down payment or something practical.

'The smart families put the money on a car, paying down a school loan, a house down payment or something practical.'

:thumbsup:

That's all marriage is.

who's bringing home what, and who supplies what...hell, if that isn't there then who is really happy in the marriage?

it's a sign of commitment and a promise of security for the upcoming 50 years or so...

Or it's a big scam ;)

snip

This was cathartic.

Both exes kept their rings.

The first was from my grandmother's earrings and gold we mined together; the 2nd was for wife's religious sensitivities about living together.

... stupid as they may be.

I gave my wife a REALLY tiny diamond ring. She wouldn't have wanted anything larger as it it would just get in the way. She doesn't even wear it anymore because, as small as it is, it got caught on everything. Practical does have a place in there somewhere.

a diamond made from his grandma?

http://www.lifegem.com/?gclid=CLOcsKeO7KICFRY75QodAlrEdA

keeping a jeweler in business, which is not an altogether bad thing.

Diamonds are forever,
They are all I need to please me,
They can stimulate and tease me,
They won't leave in the night,
I've no fear that they might desert me.
Diamonds are forever,
Hold one up and then caress it,
Touch it, stroke it and undress it,
I can see every part,
Nothing hides in the heart to hurt me.

I don't need love,
For what good will love do me?
Diamonds never lie to me,
For when love's gone,
They'll luster on.

Diamonds are forever,
Sparkling round my little finger.
Unlike men, the diamonds linger;
Men are mere mortals who
Are not worth going to your grave for.

I don't need love,
For what good will love do me?
Diamonds never lie to me,
For when love's gone,
They'll luster on.

Diamonds are forever, forever, forever.
Diamonds are forever, forever, forever.
Forever and ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flZ4Zo13h8c

or on his. . .oops. . .hahaha.

Or has DU become that cynical? :shrug:

Some people like jewelry; some don't and some get really bent out of shape if someone gives someone else a nice gift. Why I have no idea.