Thursday, November 21, 2013

The Cultural Importance of Diamond Right Hand Rings

What is it that diamond right hand rings say about us as a culture? The emerging prevalence of these types of rings in the past few decades begins highlighting a particularly interesting trend among female jewelry customers - a renewed attitude towards self-empowerment, feminist agency, and style, all attained without sacrificing or demonizing the love of the stereotypically feminine. Wearing this kind of ring on your right hand is a symbol and a reminder, for others and yourself, of your own inner power, strength, and desire to subvert harmful and toxic cultural narratives.

These rings have begun to surface as a newer sort of style, in stark contrast to the typical left handed engagement ring. Commitment and ownership, often symbolized through the patriarchal system of marriage that has been systematically used to own and control females since its institutional inception, is subverted by the right hand ring. In switching the role of a diamond ring - the right hand rings differ from engagement rings in that they are usually made up of small clusters instead of single centerpieces - we see this form of jewelry as a subtle subversion of cultural norms.

Sometimes the diamonds are laid out evenly and clustered together, and sometimes they are more sporadically laid out, evenly spaced across the band.  These jewelry pieces are all about independence. In keeping with the ideology symbolized by the right hand ring, there are no particular standardized formal rules for design type. Like the modern woman, these rings represent the opportunity for self-definition, growth, and change.

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