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All the single ladies (all the single ladies), all the single ladies (all the single ladies), all the single ladies (all the single ladies), all the single ladies .....

Now put your hands up — if you’ll scream the next time you hear this song.

From Justin Timberlake’s SNL skit as a “dance biscuit” background dancer for Beyoncé to various drunken renditions at the clubs, it appears to be the latest theme song of the year.

Now don’t get me wrong, Beyoncé’s doing her thing. And she’s cranked out yet another catchy, sassy “she” anthem, like 2007’s “Irreplaceable,” by which every woman became emboldened that she could easily replace her wayward squeeze.

And now “Single Ladies” is out to remind all the men about the one who got away.

“I hate this song,” a guy friend of mine lamented over a beer as the song blared out of the speakers at a bar. I immediately assumed it had brought back the bad aftertaste of a past relationship. So I asked him why.

“It gives some women an over-inflated sense of self. Some assume that they should get a ring, when sometimes, it may not be worth it. Who’s to say that just because you think you’re a good girl, that you should get a ring? It appeals more to the woman who feels like a man only shows his true love when he gets her a ring and proposes and bashes the guy who is ‘dragging his feet.’.”

OK, a bit too much philosophizing at 1 a.m., but I think he had a point. A ring has often been seen as the ultimate end-all. If one is not procured, then, for some, the relationship is seen as a big waste of time. I’ve seen and heard it happen a million times over.

“He didn’t want to marry me, so I just moved on.”

Often, women divide themselves into subgroups of the haves and have-nots. Some married women bill themselves as “knowing how to get a man” and can often view a woman who doesn’t have a ring as not knowing what she’s doing in order to “keep a man.”

But what of those single ladies who don’t want a ring? There is an ever-growing movement of women in this day and age who just don’t see the merit of marriage, and definitely don’t see it as the end-all. They’re not concerned whether they ever get a ring. Do these women want to settle down? Likely so. But whether as a personal preference or a political statement, they choose not to flash the diamond and sign the papers.

So the next time you see an attractive lady sans rock, don’t assume that some man didn’t like it enough to put a ring on it.

Now put your hands up.