Essay On A Discussion

White weddings are an institution in the American culture stemming out of tradition and reinforces the normative paradigm of heterosexuality. This means there is no room for same sex, transgender couples or single persons in the “white wedding” tradition. The American culture has been greatly influenced by media (television and magazines) in that a stereotypical image of the white wedding is already constructed in out minds. It features a beautiful bride in a white gown, flowers (roses) in her hands and a happy groom waiting at the alter. This means that a white wedding is a show of wealth to be able to afford the luxuries associated with it such as the jewelry, invitations, a beautifully designed cake and honeymoon. However, the “white wedding” myth is either unattainable or undesirable for the majority of the American population following several aspects of weddings and marriages not captured by the media’s illustration. The negative aspects of marriage include divorce, age and race differences between couples and financial matters that influence how happy one can be in their marriage.
The construction of the white wedding for men and women differs in that it has been made a female affair. The media’s construction of the white wedding focuses on images of a young and beautiful bride with money. The wedding plan responsibilities are mostly the female affair to find what pleases her most. There is no trace of the same sex couples, interracial marriages or even older couples marriages yet these groups and many others constitute the majority of the American population. Same sex marriages are not featured following the argument that they would threaten the already established heterosexual marriages by challenging ideas about proper gender roles whereby the man is supposed to be the provider while the woman runs the household and takes care of children. In this discussion, that view is narrow being that gender roles are socially constructed while marriage is an emotional, physical and social partnerships between two individuals.