When uttered by a man, the words “will you marry me” serve to signal a tradition that is both widely accepted and ages old. Having the same spoken by a woman however — except in a leap year like 2016, when an old Irish tradition of having the woman ask is known to emerge — are still surprisingly rare.

Legend has it that “The Ladies’ Privilege,” as it was known then, originated in the fifth century, with an Irish nun later known as St. Brigid. Through her intervention it was decided that on Feb. 29, women would be given the opportunity to pop the question as a way to balance traditional gender roles in a manner not unlike how leap year serves to balance the calendar.

On the face of it, giving a woman an occasion to ask a man to wed would seem an empowering moment. But not everyone sees it that way. “The leap year tradition looked like it was giving women opportunities but in reality, it kept them in their place,” said Katherine Parkin, an associate professor of history at Monmouth University in New Jersey. “Back then women who asked men to marry were portrayed as ugly, mannish, crass or desperate.”

Centuries later, women are still using this bit of folklore as an impetus to get down on one knee and ask for their partner’s hand in marriage — on a Feb. 29 or on any day in a leap year.