I have a male friend whose girlfriend proposed to him…he was thrilled! I also know lots of couples who decided together, and never had a formal man-on-one-knee moment. One problem is that I think even for many progressive women who don’t really care, they need a formal “proposal story” to tell their families, grandparents, etc since our society might look down on a guy who couldn’t “get his act together” to do a formal proposal. Personally, I think it’s all ridiculous, but I think many women have been ingrained with certain societal norms since birth and don’t want to break away from them.