Do Wedding Rings Make a Difference?

[JamesM]

I have always wondered if it really matters.

 

Recently, I got my wedding ring back from being repaired. So, I have been without one for awhile. No, I did not notice any more flirtatious looks or come ons. But I wondered. What do you think when you see a man without a wedding ring whom you know to be married? And do you view a stranger as being more committed to his wife if he wears his wedding ring?

 

Women, do you flirt with men without wedding rings sooner than if the man has a wedding ring on?

 

Men who wear no wedding ring, do you get flirty looks or come ons from women? And if you wear your ring, do you get any flirty looks?

 

Women, do men flirt with you despite the ring or do they look at you differently when they see you are married?

[StayClose]

Interesting.... A couple of months ago I pulled a tendon or something while pulling weeds in the yard. I heard & felt a pop in my hand near the first ring finger knuckle and for a moment I thought I broke my ring finger. But it didn't hurt that much and I had range of motion - so nothing's broken. But to this day the section of the finger where the ring goes is slightly tender and swollen. The ring does not fit comfortabely so I've been waiting for it to return to normal before wearing it again.

 

Well.... I read long ago that some women flirt with married men because they are "forbidden," but I never noticed or experienced that. And since not wearing the ring I haven't noticed any change in women's reactions or attitudes toward me. If anyone at work has even noticed they haven't said anything to me.

 

I think that men who are the type of men women chase will be chased whether they wear a ring or not. Men who are not chased will not be chased. Ring or no ring makes little difference.

[IfWishesWereHorses]

My father was an engineer and when he had to go onsite he wasn't allowed to wear his ring. He usually took it off and had a dish type thing on his desk where he would place it.

 

One afternoon upon returning to his office his secretary had straightened his desk and he couldn't find the ring. He panicked. Called mom, called the student he was mentoring that was sharing his office. I remember him not coming home until they found it, late into the night. It had been thrown away and they had spent hours digging through trash from a very large mill. Found it much later that night and everyone who had been looking showed up with him, even the cleaning woman, and mom fed them and all the neighbors all showed up as well. It was a major deal, EVERYONE was so relieved, to find this plain simple band. Because of this, I guess, I always thought that wedding rings must be terribly important. I remember asking mom how much she had paid for it, it was less than $20 back then. I remember them discussing whether he should leave it at home or continue to wear it. Mom gave him a small silver box that had her initials engraved on it to take to work to keep it in. Its funny to me how devistated everyone was, I wonder if that was a sign of the times, it doesn't seem that people treasure these things any longer. Everything is replacable. I remember looking closely at his ring when he got home, it was dull, scratched and completely misshapened!

 

I know quite a few men who don't wear their bands because of the type of work that they do.

 

I have some single guy friends that joke about buying a cheap wedding band to wear out because they swear that it attracts women! Yeah, but what kind?

[Lynna]

Wow, that is a really touching story IWWH! It sounds like everyone appreciated the emotional value of the ring.

 

That is what our wedding rings symbolize to me. It is the emotional value, it is a physical symbol of our love and our committment to each other. I know that my H feels similarly. When he had his A it was at a time that he was NOT wearing his ring because of the work he was doing. During that period when I would ask him why he was not wearing it on weekends he would squirm and say that it did not fit right and that it got uncomfortable and sweaty if he wore it all day. He knew what it represented to both of us and he was uncomfortable wearing it because of what he was doing!

 

I think each person and each couple is different in whether wedding rings matter or not and about what they represent.

[HokeyReligions]

My husband hasn't worn his ring in at 12 or 15 years. I seldom wear mine anymore. It doesn't mean anything. I don't wear it because I'm always putting on hand lotion at work (I work with a lot of paper and my hands dry out) and I get tired of taking it off and putting it on, or cleaning all the lotion out of it and hubby outgrew his for a while and just never bothered to start wearing it again after he lost weight.

 

We both just 'look' married anyway!

[Trialbyfire]

My wedding band and engagement ring are now as one and at peace with each other. They've been melted down into a diamond pendant necklace. It's quite nice. Much nicer than what the other two represented.

[silktricks]

I think the man who's being flirted with can tell a lot more clearly what kind of woman is flirting with him if he's wearing a wedding ring.

 

And the woman can tell what kind of man he is if he's wearing a wedding ring and flirting back. . .

[Trialbyfire]

Oh and btw, wedding rings mean nothing today. I've been approached many times, with or without wedding rings.

 

For me though, if I see even a shadow of a wedding band, I run like the wind in the opposite direction. The self-entitled can keep as far away from me as humanly possible, preferably on another continent. Please and thank-you.