Kind of a Rant
I'm annoyed by this new ad for Barbie wedding stuff:
Share the wedding with your friends
Barbie Girl!
Here's the dress!
Here's the cake!
Handsome groom!
So much fun...
da dee da or something
Barbie girl!
The groom is like an accessory or something. All joking aside, is this what we want girls to grow up thinking? That it's the wedding that's important and who cares if you got the right person as long as (s)he looks good in a tux?
Have we not seen the object lessons on those reality wedding shows? I watched one the other night where they spent $75,000. It's one day! I would have spent that money on two cars. And the brides get so bitchy if their 6-foot ice sculpture swan isn't exactly right. Holy crap.
Anyway, it bugs me that the groom is so seriously marginalised.
posted by Seana @ 8:01 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
LC was anything but a Bridezilla, and even her mom behaved herself pretty well when we got married. And I abhor the stories I hear about "My Sweet Sixteen" and so forth.
That being said, I accept that the groom gets marginalized. I kept saying, "It's LC's wedding, and I'm just showing up." But I enjoyed the day too.
So I guess I don't *quite* see it that way, although as we were told at Engaged Encounter, "A wedding is a day. A marriage is a lifetime."
Is the groom anatomically correct? That's what's important. *grin*
Well, sometimes, it's better to marginalize the groom. Of course, in those cases, you probably shouldn't be getting married anyway. *grin*
Seriously, I understand your rant. And to a point, I agree with you. However, at the age Barbie and Mattel are targeting, it's all about the girl and imagination not love and respect.
I agree with you, but I also think that adults engage in a lot of misogynistic behavior at weddings and receptions. It's good to prepare little girls for all of it in advance.
Bride's family pays for wedding --- That tradition sounds like it is right out of the Stone Ages to me. I get the impression that more and more couples are opting to split the costs nowadays.
Wedding shower for bride and stag party for groom --- It's good to establish before the wedding even takes place that the woman will be responsible for all the domestic stuff while the man is free to just cruise around. This is a test run for the baby shower.
Giving the bride away --- This custom dates directly back to marriages as family alliances for securing property. I much prefer the ceremonies where the bride and groom are both escorted by their father and mother.
Tossing the garter --- I always love it when the bride has to hike up her dress so the groom can remove her garter while a reception hall full of guests look on. It's especially classy when the deejay plays stripper music while this is taking place, not the least bit degrading. I wonder why there aren't any wedding rituals that involve the groom dropping trousers in front of family, friends, and assorted people who happened to be invited.
Heh, I tossed my garter out the limo roof because I refused to do the garter thing at our reception/dance.
I can see your point, Seana, although I'm not sure a lecture on the equality of marriage and it not being about the dress and cake is relevant at a young age. It's more about how the parent plays up the "princess" crap and reinforces Barbie ideals as children grow, IMHO.
In truth, I'm barely certain why the ad ticks me off so much. It's the Barbie ad, you see. The cake, ring, gown, etc. are given star billing and they tack the groom on at the end.
I think I don't like the idea of marketing a huge life-changing decision as a toy for small girls. I will not change the world with my opinion, of course.
I don't like giving guns to boys to play with either. DH will tell you that *he* turned out OK. And I'd be hard-pressed to argue. I *didn't* play with wedding dolls as a girl. I've always been too serious or literal-minded, maybe. I never thought Barbie was old enough.
HD: you bring up interesting points. FTR, we paid for our own wedding, which is quite common, at least around here.
I would like to say that I'm not anti-wedding.
It is my belief that weddings and showers provide an opportunity for generations of family to come together and discuss life and experience. I think that showers in particular are important for women to compare notes. My former boss used to complain that there was nothing similar for men, no way to show boys how to behave in a crowd or how to deal with Crazy Uncle Joe and therefore learn how to deal with others like him out in the great wide world.
Post a Comment
<< Home