A young man has sparked a heated debate after proposing to his girlfriend during her graduation ceremony.
The controversial moment took place at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, where a man stormed the stage during the graduation ceremony only to kneel in front of his girlfriend and propose to her as she accepted her degree.
The video quickly went viral on social media where viewers were left divided into those who thought the gesture was sweet and those who accused the man of being selfish.
Among the clip’s biggest critics was feminist and commentator Clementine Ford who suggested the boyfriend was stealing his girlfriend’s spotlight by making her special moment all about himself.
“Stop f***ing stealing women’s moments from them. They do not belong to you. They are not yours to have,” Ford said.
“That is her moment, she has graduated. We don’t know under what conditions she went to university, we don’t know how hard that was for her, but she did it by herself.”
She continued: “Why do men look at situations where women have achieved something for themselves, where they are about to receive praise and admiration… and they think, ‘you know what? I’m going to make this moment about me. I’m going to make it so that she remembers, always, that the day she graduated was the day I proposed to her. That was the most important thing that happened to her that day.’”
Agreeing with Ford were thousands of other viewers who didn’t hold back when it came to slamming the man for his actions.
“Some men do this to pressure their special ones into saying yes… absolutely pathetic if you ask me,” one lady wrote.
“He’s like ‘oh it’s one of the most special days in your life, let’s make it all about me!’” another raged on.
Despite the backlash the video received, however, some people thought it was sweet of the couple to get engaged at the graduation ceremony.
“Hate me if you want but I kind of liked it. I guess if she didn’t she could always say no,” someone suggested.
“Perhaps not the best time and place but at least it was a total surprise,” another insisted.
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