真爱无需钻戒 结婚不必有房

Any remotely logical person can see that spending several thousand on actually important items for a new couple like a place to live or putting money in an investment account will serve them far better in the future (and likely help with romantic and/or wedded bliss).
任何一个有长远思维的人都会发现，对新婚夫妇来说，花数千块钱在一些住房或是投资理财之类真正重要的事情上对他们的将来可能会更有意义（也可能有助于营造浪漫和提高婚姻幸福感）。

That engagement ring purchases tend to be for women – not by women – is also insulting to the cause of not viewing women as objects to be acquired. Consider that this is worthy of a headline in a respected US magazine at the beginning of this month: "Women Now Paying for Their Own Engagement Rings".
订婚戒指是买给女人的，而不是被女人买的，这种不将女人视为购买戒指的对象也是对女性的一种侮辱。想像一下，如果本月初在一个权威的美国杂志上看到这样一条新闻：“女人为自己购买订婚戒指”，那么它一定可以成为新闻头条。

Many people will say that engagement rings are symbolic of love and devotion. Ignoring that this idea is itself manufactured by the profiting businesses, it also gives an arbitrary definition of "symbol": why can't a beautiful home be a symbol? Why can't long-term investments be a symbol? Indeed, would it not be more impressive to show off a house than a finger rock?
很多人会说，订婚戒指是爱情和忠诚的象征。但却忽视了这个想法本身就是被盈利的商家们创造出来的，同样也对“象征”下了一个专断的定义：为什么一个漂亮的家不能成为爱情和忠诚的象征？为什么长期投资不能成为爱情和忠诚的象征？说实话，难道一栋房子不比一个手指上的石头更印象深刻吗？

Tradition is another assertion when discussing almost anything to do withmonogamy and marriage. But, like nature, tradition is a description not moral justification. Just because we've always done a particular action, doesn't mean it's always (or ever was) justified. Pointing to tradition means pointing to the mistreatment of different races and sexes, human sacrifices, and so on. Longevity, too, doesn't give moral immunity, or automatic goodness, to anything.
每当讨论起任何关于一夫一妻和婚姻的话题时，传统就成了我们要坚守的另一种东西。然而，传统在本质上只是一种描述，不代表其具有道德合理性。并不会因为我们已经做了什么，就代表着这种行为总是（或曾经是）合理的。当你向着传统时，也就意味着可能会默许对不同种族、性别的虐待，还有活人祭祀等等。即使是存在已久的古老传统，也不会给予任何事物道德豁免，或是理所应当的仁慈。

Engagement rings aren't even used to show one is married: they're used before the wedding even occurs. Indeed, even helping avoid awkward social encounters isn't aided, since there are other (and cheaper) ways of showing you're "in a relatinship" (not to mention just telling people trying to hit on you).
戴了订婚戒指并不代表已经结婚，订婚是发生在结婚之前的。实际上，订婚戒指也无力帮助你避免一些尴尬的社交场合，但其实有其他低花费的方式能向所有人表明你已经“有主了”，更不用说那些试图搭讪你的人。

If you need a ring to prove your love, it's not your lack of a ring that's the problem.
如果需要一枚戒指才能证明你的爱，那么问题就不仅是缺少一枚戒指那么简单了。