And y’all, that’s definitely what came to mind when I recently checked out an article about people assuming that artists (and long-term couple) Big Sean and Jhené Aiko were engaged based on a ring that was on her “traditional finger.” Although she made it clear that it’s not what one might assume, what I rolled my eyes at was a commenter who said that “bullying wins” in response to the assumption that it was (because if anyone has been on “engagement watch,” whether they want to be or not, it’s those two).
Bullying. Nagging. Ultimatums. Incessant hint dropping. Continuous pressure. When it comes to trying to go from girlfriend to fiancée, I’ve been working with couples long enough to scream from every rooftop that if any of this “works” at all, it’s not going to be in the way that you would ultimately like. At the very most, all you’re gonna do is end up with what is now coined as being a “shut up ring” and a lot of internal doubts.
And so, since December continues to be the most popular time of the year for couples to get engaged, I figured that now would be as good of a time as any to address what a shut up ring is and why women really need to not settle for one.
@kishapeartReplying to @Wealth by Samantha I know “shut up” ring is a new term to some, and in case you’re confused…it’s a ring that a man gives to a woman to get her to shut up about getting married. 🥹 It usually given after MANY years together and he’s finally had it with her begging. 🙃 It is not genuine and is usually very low to zero effort when it comes to a proposal. Ladies….PLEASE walk away before you wver have to beg a man for a ring. 🥲 You are the Prize! 😌 Special Shoutout to @ceciliaregina275 for coining this term!! #men #fyp #shutuprings #proposal #proposalfail #dating
I’m Pretty Sure You Can Guess What a “Shut Up Ring” Is But…
Yep, overall, one way or another, a shut up ring is a ring that is given to a woman in order to get her to quit focusing so much on getting engaged…, or at least to stop her from being consumed with getting out of the girlfriend stage of a relationship.
Okay, but what the creator (kishapeart on TikTok) just said in this video about shut up rings? Honestly, in my opinion, that is only one take on them. I will say that I know a guy personally, who has been engaged for almost four years now, and he and his fiancée (they live together, by the way) are no closer to getting married than they were before he proposed. In fact, when I asked him about it over a year ago now, he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, “She doesn’t want to get married. She just wanted a ring; now she has one. She hasn’t made any moves closer to marriage since, even after I told her to pick a date — and that was two years ago.”
Yeah, it can’t be said enough that getting engaged (traditionally) means that you are preparing for your wedding — and that typically takes no more than 12-18 months. And while we’re here, there is data to support that longer engagements can lead to quicker divorces because, if you have declared to each other (and probably your social media accounts) that you are ready to get married…what are you waiting for (hmm…)? If you’re not ready to literally get married…why get engaged?
Anyway, one thing that “kishapeart” said, right out the gate, is if you receive a shut up ring, you are not someone’s person. Eh, I don’t think that automatically applies across the board. I’m not sure where the popular assumption came from, yet it’s not accurate or even fair to draw the conclusion that just because someone doesn’t want what you do, at the time when you want it, that must mean they don’t care about you or love you. Good lord.
Now, what I will say is it would benefit people greatly to go into dating dynamics knowing if someone is on the same type of timeline that they are (check out “The 'Pre-Commitment Interview' Every Dating Couple Should Have”). For instance, if you want to get married in two years, does the guy you’re starting to see a real connection with think the same way? It would be good to know. At the same time, though, please don’t be out here thinking that they don’t want what you want just because it’s not at the exact same time. As a wise woman I know once said, “The right thing at the wrong time can still be the wrong thing.” Impatience has jacked many a couples up.
Then there’s this type of shut up ring that I read about via a TODAY article not too long ago: “I fought for it. I fought for him to recognize the relationship as something that was serious, something that mattered. I fought for him to realize that we needed to consider next steps. I fought for him to understand that my needs and desires matter. So he proposed.” Fought to get engaged. Whew.
The long story short here is this is the stance that this woman took after 3 ½ years of dating. However, she ended up canceling the wedding 2 ½ months before she was to stroll down the aisle because she ended up feeling more disconnected from her partner than ever.
Two years later, she has no regrets in doing so. Listen, her ex-fiancé wasn’t interviewed for the piece, yet again, I have worked with enough couples to say that this doesn’t automatically mean that she wasn’t “his person” or that he was setting himself up to settle. Sounds more like he was low-key resenting her for even putting him in the position of having to “prove” himself in the first place.
Hmph, some of y’all aren’t gonna wanna hear this, but — just like women don’t like to be pressured into sex, men don’t like to be pressured into marriage. #justsayin’
And then there’s the BuzzFeed article entitled, “19 Times People Realized They Got A ‘Shut Up’ Ring And Their Partner Didn't Actually Want To Get Married.” Let’s just say that many of the stories confirm what I just said in the last sentence of the above paragraph. SMDH.
Real talk, I could provide all types of scenarios to prove that a shut up ring is not a monolith; indeed, so many dynamics can result in a woman getting a ring before a man is truly ready to give her one. What I will say, for all of them across the board, is that no matter what the behind-the-scenes details of the relationship may be, ending up with this type of ring is never something that a woman should aspire to. In part, because of the red flags that automatically come with having one on your finger.
Red flags like what?
3
Things That Makes a Shut Up Ring a Huge Red Flag
We all know what a red flag is; it’s a warning, and a warning is something that warns, puts you on notice, or alerts you to take heed of something — or someone. Well, when you think of a shut up ring, anything that wants you to “shut up” is already problematic, right? Because, oftentimes, what that means is they are starting to process your words as low-key noise (I mean, look up the definition of shut up some time) — and that never can be good. Okay, but aside from the obvious, there are three other red flags about a shut up ring that immediately come to my mind.
1. Pressure makes diamonds, not healthy relationships. It is Winston Churchill who once said, “You can measure a man’s character by the choices he makes under pressure,” and again, some of you are gonna want to click off of this article after I say this, but, a man who doesn’t succumb to getting engaged before he is ready? That is a man of character — not the other way around.
If a man, right out the gate, will do something that he is not prepared to do, just because someone pressures him to do it, how can you trust in how he will handle other pressuring matters in the future? Not only that but, if you know that you had to pressure him to ultimately get what you want, how can you feel secure in the relationship anyway? Let’s move on to the next point.
2. Is the ring about love or…status? How many times over the years have I said that De Beers is one of the greatest scammers of all time because folks didn’t become obsessed with diamond engagement rings for any other reason than the company was going broke, they came up with the slogan “a diamond is forever” and people drank the Kool-Aid (if you don’t believe me, you can read all about ithere)? Every time I think about that, it gets me to wondering why a diamond is so crucial to so many: is it really about someone declaring their love, or is it a status symbol that they don’t even know the origin story of?
Case in point: some of y’all may remember the episode of Being Mary Jane (which has literally been years ago now) where one of her friends admitted that she bought her own engagement ring because she didn’t want to risk being embarrassed by the size that her fiancé would end up getting her. Now, what in the world does that have to do with their relationship? Sounds like she cares more about what others think about them — and no one is ultimately going to be in her relationship (if she’s wise, anyway) but her and her man. Bottom line here, is if you think you would be “fine” with a shut up ring, reevaluating the love vs. status thing is something you definitely should put some real thought into.
3. No woman should have to convince a man to marry her. Think about the last time that you tried to convince someone to do something. If you weren’t arguing or debating, you were having to provide enough “evidence” to prove that your point or perspective was right. Now, apply this to striving to get someone to marry you. Whether it’s trying to convince him that you are the one or now is the time, there is nothing self-affirming about having to prove that he should see things from your perspective. With that said, in walks the stellar groom from this video (@irisfilmsatl on IG) up top.
The first time I saw it, I played it back at least five times because I adored everything about it. Most of all? HOW CLEARLY READY THIS MAN WAS TO GET MARRIED. You can see the confidence oozing out of his pores from the moment that he showed up on the screen. And you know what? Men who are ready to get married, don’t need convincing. Rinse and repeat that conclusion, just as many times as you need to.
3
Things That Make Giving a Man an Ultimatum a Huge Red Flag
While I was reading an article entitled, “Do Most Proposals Only Happen After an Ultimatum?” from The Kit’s site, and I saw things like, “’Almost every girl I know who got proposed to [did] because they gave an ultimatum to their partner.’ More than 70 replies mostly ran the gamut of agreement: ‘Truth,’ ‘I told him to propose, or I was moving on, he picked propose,’” all I could literally do is shake my head, mostly because I know that this isn’t an exaggeration.
Geeze, I can’t tell you how many women I personally know who also fit into this…demographic. It’s not a good thing either because, no matter how popularized ultimatums have become, at the end of the day, an ultimatum is a threat — on some levels, even worse, it’s what PsychCentral once said on the topic in their article, “Should You Ever Give an Ultimatum In a Relationship?”: “...ultimatums often come from desperation.”
Let’s explore more of what an ultimatum is.
1. Ultimatums are threats (and it can’t be said enough). The reason why I thought that this video (krewseason on TikTok) was appropriate for this particular portion of the video is he’s right: if you’re going to make a threat, you need to follow through — and a lot of y’all ain’t ready to walk away if a man doesn’t give you a ring when you want it; you’re just hoping that he’ll be “too scared” to lose you. Okay, but don’t you get that if you have made your desires clear about where you want the relationship to go and he hasn’t made any moves, there is no need to threaten him anyway?
Men count up the cost of things more than they are given credit for in this culture, and so throwing ultimatums left and right is only going to cause you to become more mentally and emotionally unsettled and him to start seeing you as the boy — well, girl — who cried wolf because you keep threatening to do something that you know that you…won’t.
2. Whether it’s impatience, fear, or control, there is nothing loving about any of this. I loathe relationship ultimatums — I really do. One reason is because, one of the things that immediately comes to mind is the Scripture, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” (I John 4:18 — NKJV)
If you add to that the fact that the Good Book also says in I Corinthians 13:4 that “love is patient” (which, by definition, means that it waits well and doesn’t complain a lot) — well, if you are trying to control the outcome of your relationship because you are impatient, fearful or both…maybe you need to reevaluate how sincere, genuine and healthy your love actually is (and I’ll just leave that right there).
3. Giving an ultimatum puts the relationship on shaky ground. Earlier this year, PEOPLE published, “What Is a 'Shut Up Ring?' Woman Explains How Her Ex's Proposal Didn't Fix Their Flawed Relationship (Exclusive).” When you get a chance, check it out. For now, I’ll say that one of my favorite parts is when the woman said, "As soon as the dust settled, I realized the ring, the proposal, the marriage, the wedding — none of that changed anything…We still had all the exact same problems that we had before."
That’s the other thing about ultimatums: even if the guy does give in to you (and many do), do you realize that by giving an ultimatum in the first place, that means you both aren’t on the same page — perhaps even the same chapter or even the same…love story? I have worked with couples where the wife gave an ultimatum, the now-husband gave in) and they still have a ton of trust issues…and a part of the reason is because of how they got engaged in the first place: the movement after a threat and, oftentimes, all that does is temporarily deflect from the issues that already exist, or it puts cracks in the foundation of the relationship in ways that neither person expected.
If He’s Not Ready to Marry You, That (Usually) Means One of Three Things
Okay, so what if you are ready for your man to put a ring on your finger, he knows this, and it seems like nothing is happening. What in the world is going on? For the most part, one of the following things is probably the case.
1. You’re not the right person. I promise y’all that one day, I’m gonna go on tour with my belief that you should never substitute familiar for good or good for right — and honestly, a lot of folks end up in divorce court due to this very thing: choosing someone who they are very familiar with or selecting an individual who is a good person yet isn’t exactly RIGHT for them. How to know if someone is right for you is its own article; however, a good starting place is “If He's Right For You, He Will COMPLEMENT Your Life” — wait for it — as you do the same thing for him.
And the only way to know this is to have some hard conversations about each other’s purpose, each other’s values, and each other’s life goals and aspirations. Believe you me, when a man knows that a woman is right for him, he’s not going to drag his feet; he will put a plan into place and let her know that he is doing so…without her needing him to “help things along.”
2. It’s not the right time. I know a guy right now who has entered into the ultimatum portion of the program when it comes to his relationship. While his girlfriend is pushing him, he is taking some steps back because he has been trying to purchase a home before proposing, and he wanted to surprise her with it. However, because she can’t seem to talk about anything but when he is going to pop the question, now he’s wondering about the timing and the woman: “If this is how she is as a girlfriend, I’m starting to wonder if it will only get worse as a wife.” That’s a valid point.
That said, though, if you want to know when the “right” time is for a man to make you his fiancée, I wrote “Experts Say You Should Date This Long Before Getting Married,” and it addresses that (cheat sheet: after two years of dating). However, no two relationships or details in them are the same. Listen, a lot of couples go into debt, just from their wedding alone (almost 60 percent, in fact). To him, it’s right when he not only has a ring to put on her finger but a home to move her into as well — and her impatience may just rob her of both. For shame.
3. Marriage isn’t on his menu. The main reason why I thought this clip from singer Shanice was perfect for this particular point is it proves, yet again, that — and yes, I am yelling it — WHEN A MAN WANTS TO GET MARRIED, HE WILL GET MARRIED. And to tell you the truth, that is where a lot of women mess up: they date men who aren’t interested in getting married, whether that is around the same time that the women are or…ever.
And again, the guys who fall in the “B” box, that doesn’t mean that they don’t love you (check out “He Loves You. He's Just Never Gonna Marry You. Now What?”); it just means that they don’t want what you do. If marriage is something that you are super serious about, make that known out the gate — don’t wait until your feelings are “all in” and then get mad at him because you think that if he loves you, he should overlook his own needs and simply give you what you want.
Not only is that potentially delusional, but it’s also hella unfair. Besides, men who are marriage-minded tend to date differently than those who aren’t — they aren’t gonna be cool with you having to pressure them; they have inspired themselves to get prepared.
Always
Remember That a Shut Up Ring Is a Choice
@kvy3mthe problem is you think you have time. do you see how fast the year has gone by already? you better start doing all the things youve always wanted to doo #cinematography #film #filmtok #cinematic #videography #capcut #comingofage
This past spring, when I wrote, “These 12 Women Broke Off Their Engagements. Here's Why.” for the platform, I don’t think I stopped to consider that there were some “shut up ring scenarios” in it — but there were and boy, am I proud of those former fiancées for not settling for less by thinking that a shut up ring is good enough…because it isn’t. Y’all, marriage is too sacred, too special, and far too important to go into it with one person basically being like, “Here. Now will you stop nagging me?” and another being like, “As long as I get what I want, I don’t care how he ultimately feels about it.” Ughs. All the way around.
And that’s why I wanted to end all of this with the A SHUT UP RING IS A CHOICE. Meaning, a woman who accepts one of those isn’t a victim of her relationship because if she felt like pressuring someone to get what she wants is the right thing to do (it’s not), that is a conscious decision.
HOWEVER, as this last video (kvy3m on TikTok) basically implies, life is too short (and precious) to move in this fashion because, as writer Maureen Dowd once said, “The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for” — and a shut up ring is 1000 percent settling for less which means that you are wasting your time because marriage is too long to go into it with someone who got you something, so that you’ll quit talking about it…because your words translated as low-key noise in his mind (ouch).
And so, since a shut up ring is a choice, I hope that all this will remind you to NEVER CHOOSE ONE.
____
Clear communication. Honest intentions. Being on the same page. This helps you to get an engagement ring instead of a shut up ring. Both are your choice.
Sis, you are of great value. PLEASE…choose wisely.
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Featured image by Grace Cary/Getty Images
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