Ok, fine. Women usually get a ring when a man asks us to marry him. What's your point? Not all women get one - not all women WANT one - and not all women are as shallow as you are making us out to be. These days? Center stone is not always a diamond. I picked out a setting and told C to put whatever the hell he wanted to in the middle of it - I even suggested a sapphire or an emerald. He chose a diamond. His choice. I was and am in love with him - I would have said yes without a ring at all.
That's stupid reason to not get married. It's a symbol, a token, a pledge - traditional, with meaning behind it. Sorry if it chaps your ass to have to cough up the money for a ring, but if that's the case, either find a chick who feels the same way you do about spending money on an engagement ring, or feel free to stay single and fuck dollar bills on those cold lonely nights.