Is There A Such Thing As Being Engaged Too Long?

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Over the weekend, a friend posted a very interesting meme about extended engagement periods, which reads:

Engagement is when a man proposes to marry a woman in a few months, not when he puts a ring on her finger & scares other men away for the next 5 years…that is witchcraft!!!!!

At first glance, I took the meme as a joke. I mean, who really lives their lives based on silly memes posted on social media? But then, I glanced at the comments and realized that some really took the meme to heart. So much so, that they sparred back and forth with other commenters…for days. In most cases, it was people who were in or had been in extended engagements themselves and felt the need to defend their love. They explained that the meme was offensive, and shared that they had opted for extended engagements for a plethora of reasons including wanting to finish school and getting finances in order.

So much goes into planning for both a marriage and a wedding, so yeah, it’s kind of wrong to shame people who are engaged longer than the average 13 to 18 months, especially when you don’t know their situation. However, I don’t really think that this was the intention of this meme. Instead, I think it was to poke fun at or maybe even shade men who play games; men who will put a ring on a woman’s finger to shut her up even though he has zero intentions of actually marrying her.

I asked my co-workers how they felt about the image. Two felt that the meme was highly offensive, as it’s rude to dictate when two people who love each other should tie the knot. One of my other colleagues found it to be funny, but at the same time, shared that it spoke to the fact that people will always find a way to criticize or invalidate your relationship.

At the end of the day, people live their lives how they see fit but of course, we want to hear from you. What are your thoughts on this meme? Do you find it offensive? Is there a such thing as being engaged for too long?