A man who proposed to his girlfriend at her graduation ceremony has been hit with backlash after the moment went viral online.
In a video that was shared to TikTok, the man can be seen taking the stage at La Trobe University in Melbourne while his girlfriend is already up there accepting her certificate.
You can hear him telling his girlfriend that he "loves her with all of his heart" before dropping down to one knee and uttering the all-important question. What possessed him to do so, we will never know...
But while I'm sure the moment was intended to be a cute, happy occasion, it will now be remembered for the complete opposite reasons.
Clementine Ford, known for her outspoken views on topics like feminism, reacted to the video and posted the update to her official Facebook account on Friday, slamming the man for making the ceremony "all about him."
In a video titled "Stop Stealing Women's Moments," she urged men to stop treading on women's toes and actually uplift them when they're achieving their goals.
"Stop f****** stealing women's moments from them. They do not belong to you. They are not yours to have," she 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."
Ford then went on to question men's seemingly selfish antics, insinuating that they want to be the center of attention during their partner's big moments.
She said: "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.'"
Watch the full reaction below:Since it was posted, the video has gotten a lot of attention online, with many agreeing with Ford's viewpoint.
"How did he get to go up on the stage! That in itself is strange. The last graduation I went to it would have been impossible," wrote one user.
"He also stole the moment from the other graduates. It's their moment too. The awwww of the proposal is what the audience will remember. He's just an attention seeker," added another.
"Watching men pull this kind of thing infuriates me," a third said. "They are so threatened by a woman's accomplishments, they feel the need to photobomb the moment. It's weak and it's pathetic."
La Trobe University also spoke out, acknowledging their mistake and removing the original video of the proposal.
"We made an error of judgement today - our graduation ceremonies are all about celebrating student achievement, and this event detracted from that important acknowledgement of our students' success - we have removed the post," they commented under the video.
Let's hope others learn from this man's mistake...
