Empowered Ambivalence: An Analysis of Feminist Wedding Planning
Date
2014-10-08
Authors
Cecil, Mireille
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Abstract
What do contemporary feminist weddings look like? What kind of resources are available for people who identify as feminists and, for varied reasons, also want to enter into the institution of marriage? Through an analysis of two self-described feminist wedding planning guidebooks and their corresponding websites, I analyze how feminism has entered the wedding industry and how young women grapple with the anxiety and ambivalence of planning the wedding while also trying to stay true to their political and social values. The findings suggest that it is not so much what goes into a wedding that defines it as feminist in these spaces, but how weddings are framed through the lens of self-help that defines the terms and limitations of political and cultural critique. The result is a rose-tinted version of feminism based on consumer logic that reproduces many of the vary inequalities it seeks to address.
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Weddings, Critical theory, Feminism, Consumption (Economics), Internet