There are a few places you definitely shouldn’t propose: at someone else's wedding. At a funeral. On top of an active volcano that’s started making really weird noises.
But what about at someone’s graduation ceremony? That’s the question that sparked a fiery debate currently dominating social media - prompted by a man popping the question during his partner’s doctoral degree ceremony.
The video of the event, posted to Twitter on WHEN, shows a woman waiting on stage to receive her graduation honours. After her name is called and she collects her Doctorate, her boyfriend - who also appears to be in a cap and gown - gets down on one knee in front of the crowd and asks her to marry him.
The crowd at the ceremony gave the couple a standing ovation, but after the video was posted to Twitter by Nottingham University where the stunt took place, social opinion has been divided. While some celebrated the couple, others suggested the man was diverting the spotlight from his partner’s achievements.
“Public proposals and ruining someone's big moment should not ever be a thing” wrote one user on Twitter, calling the man ‘selfish’.
“Omg proposing in public is a bad enough idea can you imagine him interrupting her graduation to force her to reject his proposal publicly like that's how she has to remember her graduation” points out another.
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Others have said they would have ended the relationship if someone proposed to them in the same way, with one Twitter user writing, ‘This would be the end of my relationship. And I think it’s telling that he didn’t interrupt his own graduation moment to do the proposal, instead he hijacked hers.’
While the woman does seem to accept the proposal in the video, some people have pointed out that her body language looks very tense and uncomfortable.
But some did defend the man - or at least, pushed back against the pile on, which led to Newcastle University eventually deleting its Tweet of the footage.
No matter what happened with the couple, we hope that the woman in the video is thrilled with her PhD - that’s her doctorate, not her Pretty huge Dick of a boyfriend, FYI.
Lois Shearing is Cosmoplitan's Former Senior Sex and Relationship Writer. They have been writing about sex, sexuality, gender, politics, and relationships for almost ten years. Their writing on these topics has appeared in Mashable, The Independent, Metro, The Advocate, and Byline Times, among others. In 2021, they published their first book, Bi the Way with JKP. They are currently working on two other books, set to be published in 2024. In a previous life, they worked as a content marketer and content writer for various tech start-ups. They continue to be interested in the tech sector and its impact on our lives, relationships, and work, with particular regard to the ways AI will shape our relationships in the future. Outside of work, they are deeply passionate about queer community organising, and run the only support resource for bisexual survivors of sexual violence in the UK: the Bi Survivors Network. You can find them on Instagram and X.
