Single Red Rose

A Single Red Rose

Ah, how romantic: a single red rose.  According to a company that sells flowers by telephone, a red rose is the flower of love.  Of course, they would prefer you send a dozen red roses, or even more.  They make up special bouquets of flowers, red or otherwise, for all imaginable occasions. But then, they are in the flower business to make money.

If you are in the flower business to make love, or to show love, you could start with a single red rose.  Then you might accelerate your gift giving, no, not to two red roses, but maybe a single red rose every day for a month.   If that doesn’t warm up the object of your desire, then go for the big splash:  a dozen red roses. 

A Girl’s Best Friend

Of course there are other ways of telling someone you love them.  Many women have heard that diamonds are their best friends, but the cost of showing your love with diamonds rises exponentially from the cost of a single rose.  Diamonds are traditionally for the long term, but if you have a shorter commitment in mind, better to stick to the one rose.

On the other hand, in the case of great love, you can always give both:  diamonds and roses, each appealingly arranged next to the other.  Now you would be saying, “I love you,” and “I want to marry you.”  Talk about a big statement. 

A Dowry, or Shocking Marriage Customs

If either a man or a woman brings to their partner in marriage any money, goods or estate, that is known as a dowry.  That is surely the ultimate in gift giving, but it really depends upon the culture of the people involved. 

In the United States, the custom of dowry giving is not a common practice at all and it had disappeared from most of Europe by the beginning of the 20th century.  But it remains a common practice in south Asia.  In India a man must negotiate with his beloved’s parents as a dowry is virtually a market transaction.  The parents of the bride give whatever they can to the groom’s family to provide security for their daughter in case of adversity and unexpected circumstances after marriage. 

But this custom has deteriorated to stark greed on the part of the prospective groom and his family.  They make tremendous demands, which if not met after marriage often result in hideous “dowry deaths” so that the boy can remarry another girl for a better dowry. 

As reported by the International Christian University Center for Gender Studies, “In spite of modernization and the increasing role of women in all walks of life, the practice of the dowry in India is becoming widespread, and the value of dowries is increasing. If a bride’s family fails to pay the amount of dowry demanded by the prospective groom’s family, the bride will be cruelly treated by the in-laws, and sometimes even burnt to death.”

This has become a matter of some controversy and a subject for legal reform.

It would seem that it’s far safer in many cases for a woman to accept a single red rose than a hand in marriage.