By Yvette Thomas // Trends // EEW Magazine Online

While Proverbs 18:22 may say that “He who finds a wife a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord,” there is a rising trend in America that points to women “finding” husbands by proposing to them.

According to a recent Marriage Proposal survey conducted by Chillisauce, 76% of men think it's perfectly fine for women to propose, and 57% of women would be willing to propose. This falls right in line with a Match.com Singles in America survey which revealed that 95% of men would be up for women making the first move when it comes to dating.

So, how is this trend landing among conservative-leaning Christian women? Well, you may not be surprised to learn that there isn’t exactly a massive rush from within these circles to jump on the woman-to-man proposal bandwagon. If not simply for faith reasons, at the very least, for the desire to fall in line with expectations of traditional faith culture.

As far as the rest of the world goes, gradually, such norms are being shunned in favor of more progressive views—something that diamond retailers like Zales are attempting to capitalize upon.

In a recent National Proposal Day campaign to “celebrate equality, love, and empowerment,” the fine jewelry chain launched its own “#SheProposed” hashtag and announced that they were saying "I Do" to female proposals.

The promotion, built on the foundation of “shaking up traditional engagement norms,” underscored the changing times in western culture as women buck traditionalism in favor of liberalism.

"At Zales, we're seeing the trend of couples shopping together for their engagement rings evolve into women taking the lead and proposing to their partner,” said Jamie Singleton, Signet Chief Marketing Officer, and President of Zales, Kay and Peoples.

In the Christian’s mind, the main question may not be what trends retailers are seeing but what trends the Bible supports?

“Marriage arrangements vary across time and cultures. The Western tradition of man on bended knee proposing marriage to his unsuspecting darling is a relatively new practice,” explains GotQuestions.org, one of the most visited Christian websites in the world for common answers to everyday questions about the Bible.

“In past times, and in many cultures today, marriages were arranged by the parents of the bride and groom. Although the idea of a woman proposing to a man is slowly gaining acceptance, it is still considered the norm for the man to initiate a marriage proposal.”

For now, it’s safe to say that if you see a conservative Christian woman dropping down on bended knee to ask a man anything, it’s most likely that she will be pursuing God through prayer rather than pursuing a fiancé by way of proposal.