BOOK REVIEWS
99
changes in weddings over time, including a view into such popular culture
events as the various English royal weddings of recent history and Grace Kelly’s
wedding (Hollywood royalty, if you will). With interesting discussions about
feminism and femininity, Engstrom’s book is appropriate to this point in our
culture when many women are pondering how feminism is changing. The author
even talks about her feelings about her own wedding and the power of
hegemony (did she really need the “perfect” dress?).
The book starts with a discussion of wedding s as “published gossip” as
early as ancient Roman times. Previous to the Victorian Age, weddings were
calm home affairs with the primary participants dressed in their Sunday best. As
society pages became more important, so did the cultural manifestation of large
wedding productions, often copying royalty or high society wedding events.
Simple styles gave way to emulating the Victorian elite, right down to the
idolization of the ideal woman. Over time, this has produced our current culture
of reality television with the spectacle of the pre-ceremony antics seeming of
almost equal weight as the actual ceremony. The ideal is the “perfect” wedding:
the perfectly beautiful bride, the perfect dress, perfect details, none of which say
anything at all about the state of marriage. Nay, even the groom seems to be an
afterthought: he’s a detail that needs to be dressed properly. He can nip off and
play golf with his buddies while the bride spends hours of hair, makeup, and
getting dressed.
Indeed, the whole spectacle is aimed at putting the woman on stage so
she can have her day. Empowerment or subjugation? You can decide after
reading this book!
Mindy Hutchings, Independent Scholar