Feb 29 The Ladies' Privilege.

My lovely associate Wendy just asked if I was planning on proposing to 'any lucky guy' today. First of all, I don't think that would make him very lucky and second of all, what the heck? She went on to explain that on a leap year, on February 29th, women are encouraged to propose to the man of their choice.


This provoked a variety of facial expressions including a laugh out loud, followed by an eye roll and then was replaced my studious frowny face that I use when researching. Sometimes I feel so fresh in this world, not knowing things like this. Before delving into the subject, I wanted to know how many leap years I've lived through oblivious of these shenanigans. This handy website told me that I am 9265 days old and that I've only lived through 7 leap years, which may explain my ignorance in this matter. Let me share my findings:


Because leap years are seen as unusual events that disturb the otherwise orderly progression of days/months/years, certain beliefs have been attached to them. (One constant in the realm of folklore and superstition is that out-of-the-ordinary events are deemed to have out-of-the-ordinary consequences or properties.) Leap years, according to folk tradition, were the only times when women could propose marriage to men, with this belief often termed "The Ladies' Privilege." 

Another school of thought held that a man so entreated either had to accept the proposal or pay the refused woman a substantial forfeit for turning her down, such as a silk gown. Alternatively, if the proposal is rejected the man would buy the lady 12 pairs of gloves- the intention being that the woman can wear the gloves to hide the embarrassment of not having an engagement ring. -insert eye roll here-

Though everyone loves a good folktale, the beginning of this custom more likely has to do with February 29 being perceived as a day that does not properly belong on the calendar and thus as a period when the ordinary rules of conduct do not apply. Other superstitions play upon the underlying theme of "betwixt and between" times being occasions especially fraught with peril or periods when the unusual was not only allowed to occur, but was encouraged to do so.

In earlier days of Western society, relations between the sexes were far more formal and scripted, with each gender being expected to adhere to its assigned roles. When it came to proposing marriage, men did the asking and women did the accepting or declining — the other way around would have been unthinkable. Thus a leap year reversal of this ordinary state of things would be seen as something else being turned on its ear during a period when little else made sense anyway.

So there you have it. February 29th is a great day to show everyone you are crazy. Maybe I will propose to someone and hopefully they will say No and i will get a new dress out of it, or perhaps a dozen gloves.

Source: http://www.snopes.com/oldwives/february29.asp