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Traditional Inequalities and Inequalities of Tradition: Gender, Weddings, and Whiteness

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  • Julia Carter

    (University of the West of England, UK)

Abstract

The (British) white wedding offers a unique lens for studying a number of social and cultural phenomena from practices of intimacy, consumption, and romance to macro level studies of economics, value, and exchange. The wedding also represents an ideal focus for studying the intersection of intimacies and inequalities as it acts as a location for the practice and performance of intimacy which simultaneously encapsulates historical and contemporary gender, race, and class inequalities. These inequalities are often upheld, celebrated even, in the name of ‘tradition’ in relationships, marriage, and weddings. This article aims to interrogate this notion of tradition to understand how, rather than being a neutral concept, it is used to reproduce and reinforce existing gender inequalities, middle-class values, and privileging of Whiteness. The argument in this article draws on 3 years of research on weddings including interviews and ethnographic observations. I conclude that while wedding traditions may have become increasingly reflective of democratic choices, they retain traditional inequalities in their representation and conceptualisation.

Suggested Citation

  • Julia Carter, 2022. "Traditional Inequalities and Inequalities of Tradition: Gender, Weddings, and Whiteness," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 27(1), pages 60-76, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:27:y:2022:i:1:p:60-76
    DOI: 10.1177/1360780421990021
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John Walliss, 2002. "‘Loved the Wedding, Invite Me to the Marriage’: The Secularisation of Weddings in Contemporary Britain," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 7(4), pages 60-70, November.
    2. Brian Heaphy, 2018. "Troubling Traditional and Conventional Families? Formalised Same-Sex Couples and ‘The Ordinary’," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 23(1), pages 160-176, March.
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