Diamonds... Not My Best Friend

Diamond industry and jewelry store advertisements are seem to be almost everywhere -- especially around Christmas and Valentine's Day. Aside from the fact I wear only a small amount of jewelery, if at all, I find these advertisements a bit annoying -- often a bit insulting. When I come across ads like these (under "seize the day") I think, "What kind of woman do you think I am?"

These ads ,to me, constantly push the diamond as the magic bullet of love and romance, when... we all know these things take effort. These ads also smack of materialism and mysogyny to me. (Apparently, jamming the idea down people's throats isn't new...) Quite honestly... I don't believe every kiss begins with something from Kay (Jewelers). And Jared is just the Subway Guy as far as I'm concerned.

Viridis Calculus forwarded me the 2003 Anil Dash Blog "Diamonds are for Never" -- it spurred on a lot of discussion about this very issue. I'm glad I'm not alone... (Though yes... Anil Dash is a guy, and I'm a gal....)

Maybe it's because I often think like a guy ... Maybe it's because I find diamonds -- gasp! -- quite boring (I'm an amethyst or sapphire gal myself... mmmm... purple...blue...) Maybe it's because I *really* don't feel comfortable with a person spending two month's worth of income on something for me -- I feel it can be used elsewhere. Maybe it's because I've heard of the practices of DeBeers, and they don't sit well with me (though yes... there are plenty of abuses in other industries.)

I have a feeling I'm going to get a lot of flak from people for not expressly wanting a ginormous diamond-dominated engagement ring, should that time come. Quite honestly, I wouldn't feel any less engaged. Something like this should reflect the personality of the couple, anyway... not everyone else's idea of what the couple should want for themselves.

Again. As I said in my Valentine's post... Giving with regard to both giver and recipient = good. Giving because society or an ad agency's pushing you to = bad. If something diamond jives with your (shared) values, budgets and desires... far be it for me to rain on that parade.

But this quotation I deeply keep in mind and heart:

Never listen to a corporation or advertiser’s definition of what a gift represents. Especially on the weeks and days leading up to V-Day. The depth of a person’s love is determined by what’s in their heart, not in their gift. -- Gillis Tripplett