Here Comes the Bride: Women, Weddings, and the Marriage Mystique
by Jaclyn Geller
From the back cover:
"From How-To-Get-A-Man Manuals to Maudlin Proposal Scenes, from raucous bachelor parties to blockbuster weddings, Jaclyn Geller explodes the myth of marriage. She demystifies the wedding, examining the accepted conventions of this most coveted ritual and the social forces that shape how we feel about modern nuptial celebrations.
Posing as a bride-to-be, Geller goes undercover to the Bloomingdale's registry. She tries on gowns at a popular bridal boutqiue. Happily exclaiming, 'Hi, I'm Jackie. I'm getting married,' she opens the door to a shower of priase and acceptance--and provides the reader with a glimpse at the ways in which our culture encourages romantic partnership and female domesticity.
Drawing on sources as varied as Jane Austen and popular television series, cinematic romances and honeymoon advertisements, Geller critiques the history and continuing allure of matrimony, shedding light on this powerful stronghold of romanticism."
Casey's review:
This book does not go down easily. In her discussion of weddings and the institution of marriage, Jaclyn Geller scathingly critiques the idea that the "heterosexual relationship must always move forward, expanding, intensifying, changing to become, finally, that totemic foundation, a marriage" (40). Even the most ardent feminist will feel guilty about being sucked into the idea that her ultimate goal is to find a partner and commit forever, preferably with a giant party and gift-giving along the way. Geller states outright, "I believe that marriage is destructive, because it perpetuates negative hierarchical divisions such as the celebration of wives and the accompanying denigration of spinsters, the artificial distinction between good ... and bad ... girls, ... and the privileging of institutionalized togetherness over solitude" (70). This book is as good as it gets when it comes to looking at weddings and marriage with an unflinching, critical feminist gaze. It is highly recommended for its willingness to make readers uncomfortable and challenge them to actually think about their place in societal and media patterns of controlling female behaviors and roles, especially in relation to the wedding industry.
