The Gentlemen’s Guide begins innocently enough. “Getting engaged is one of life’s biggest milestones and you want to do it right,” the site declares. It’s a sentiment which I can agree with, and which probably applies to many. Clicking forward to the “guide” itself, I am faced with a page dotted with solid blue circles, each with a title, such as, “What Women Want.” I can already feel myself getting mildly irate, as I have yet to see that particular phrase used in a non offensive manner. This time is no different. Moving my cursor over the, “What Women Want,” icon displays four options: “Designer vs. Generic,” “Her Ring, Her Style,” “The Surprise vs. The Plan,” and “A Symbol of Love.” Clicking on these displays four short videos, featuring either a woman who talks with her hands waytoo much, or a man who also uses his hands more than necessary, while speaking in clipped, somewhat aggressive tones. The videos are all very short, and essentially try to guilt trip guys in to spending a fortune on an engagement rings at the Tacori store. (I know, big surprise there, right?) What I found most annoying however was not the pushy sales tactics, but all of the damn generalizations and sexist stereotypes.

The icon titled, “The Proposal,” allows us to click upon a video about, “Fulfilling Her Dream.” Here, the angry man tells us how all women have been dreaming about getting engaged since they were little girls. Blegh. He also explains how all women are hysterical, lovesick little bitches and all men are insensitive clods, and implores the guys to step it up and make it memorable and romantic. The next video, “The Surprise,” tells us that no matter what it will be a romantic surprise, but that men need to make it extra romantic and surprising, so that she’ll “remember” it. In all of the clips, a huge emphasis is put upon what she can “tell her friends,” ostensibly to make them envious, and how it needs to be “memorable and romantic,” so that she will remember it, and will continue to tell her friends about it, even after you have left her for your new secretary, who will get a Tiffany’s ring.

After watching a myriad of videos featuring the hand talkers, I took the “Find Her Ring Style” Quiz. Let’s just say that the gaudy chunk of sparkles that they declared to be my style didn’t quite fit the bill.

I am not at all surprised that I found the web page for Tacori engagement rings to be sexist, although it was slightly worse than expected. While I didn’t expect to get any sort of an education while looking at the site, I was a bit baffled by how often the Tacori spokespeople felt the need to declare the obvious (Check out, “The Rock,” “Why A Diamond?”). I think the most interesting part of the whole web site however, was how it made me seriously reconsider engagement and all of the stereotypes and expectations that go along with it. I can tell you right now that due to the sexist drivel that was spewed on the Tacori web site, I will not be purchasing anything from them in the future, no matter how much jealousy I want my friends to feel.