White Wedding Fairytales: (re)-reading the bridal traditions of Australian bridal texts Christyana Bambacas Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Social Sciences University of New South Wales — 15th November 2013— 1 Abstract The white wedding narrative of popular discourses concerns the ideal wedding and bridal moment. The bride is protagonist and “star” of this fairytale, which begins with a marriage proposal, accompanied by a dashing groom and dazzling diamonds, and ends with “happily ever after” for the bridal couple. Replete with the celebratory aspects of a rite of passage, the white wedding fairytale is characterised by bridal traditions, and an exhaustive list of etiquette requirements. Representations of “real life” wedding fairytales (for example, the wedding of Mary Donaldson to Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark) are circulated by Australian women’s and gossip magazines. A context is thereby provided for the narratives constructed by the more specialised genre of bridal magazines and planners. The bride is invited by such texts to plan and perform a range of manufactured bridal traditions in the execution of the ideal wedding of popular discourses. Critical considerations of the white wedding have posited this ritual as a site for the reproduction of cultural norms and ideals, such as prescribed femininity, heterosexuality and “whiteness”. The literature has typically focused on either cultural production (the wedding industry) or on cultural consumption (more general experiences of the wedding). Despite this polarity, studies tend to understand cultural power as dominative, romance ideology as manipulative, brides (consumers) as living in a state of false consciousness as passive consumers, and most importantly, cultural meaning as “fixed” through the production process. This thesis draws from Stuart Hall’s seminal paper on televisual texts, reworking his encoding and decoding method towards a reading of women’s and bridal publications. Bridal traditions are often reproduced, with little or no variation, and mass disseminated across a range of women’s texts, encoding a preferred meaning/reading of these cultural practices. However, cultural meanings are not understood to be “fixed” through the production process or passively consumed by the “unsuspecting” masses. Departing from existing critical literature, cultural meanings are recast as contradictory, fluid, and open to interpretation. This thesis argues that in positing the white wedding fairytale as the preferred reading of cultural texts, one can query the idea that weddings reproduce hetero-normativity. 2 Acknowledgments This thesis has been written with the support and guidance of the following mentors, colleagues, family members and friends. First, I want to extend my gratitude to my supervisor, Associate Professor Paul Jones, for his constructive criticism, persistence, academic insight and guidance; Associate Professor Stephen Fortescue, for his unwavering support and encouragement; and Professor Ursula Rao for her considerate criticism and supportive guidance during the latter stages of writing. I would also like to thank the Head of the School of Social Sciences, Dr Christopher Walker, and the administrative staff of the School. This thesis was supported by the following teachers and mentors at the University of New South Wales: Emeritus Professor Clive Kessler, Professor Vicki Kirby, Maria Markus, Associate Professor Rogelia Pe-Pua, Dr Jocelyn Pixley and Dr Claudia Tazreiter. Special gratitude is extended to feminist mentors and teachers Professor Margaret Allen, Dr Hélène Bowen Raddeker, Professor Chilla Bulbeck, Dr Catherine Driscoll, Dr Pam Papadelos, Dr Roslyn Richardson, Associate Professor Margie Ripper, and Professor Kay Schaffer. Many thanks to colleagues at the University of Wollongong, Professor Mark McLelland for his guidance and mentorship, and Dr John Lees for his unwavering friendship. I would also like to thank Arwen Wilson who meticulously proofread the final version of this thesis. I am indebted to Anna Pedersen from Worsthorne Pedersen Publishing, Amelia Bloomfield from Pacific Magazines and Renata Gortan from Universal’s Magazines for permission to reproduce the images contained in this thesis. This thesis is a reflection of the love and support of my family and friends, for which I am eternally grateful. The enduring, unwavering and unconditional love and support from my parents, Mary and Nicolas Bambacas, are indelibly imprinted upon my life and this thesis. The happiest memories of my life are of my childhood spent with my brothers and sister. A special thank you to Michaelis Bambacas, Anna Schwarz, and George Bambacas. 3 I also want to thank my brother-in-law, Christian Schwarz, and my sister-in-law, Karan Bambacas. To my beautiful niece and nephews, Amalia and Lucas Schwarz, Nicolas and Thomas Bambacas: thank you for the joy. My girlfriends, who are the heart of my friendships, are the most intelligent, creative and independent women I know. Many thanks and admiration to Natanya Andonas, Janine Aston, Matina Bourmas, Julie Herraman, Julie Grove, Daniella Florio, Dandy Laing, Pam Papadelos, Ros Richardson, Vicky Summerton, Lorna Toko, Laura Vasquez Maggio and Natasha Vorrasi. I would also like to extend my gratitude and appreciation to my “new” family, Kevin and Tina Hardaker, Kirstie, Dave and Benjamin Turner and Nanna Clarice Sandquest. Finally, I would like to thank my husband, Brendon Hardaker, for his unwavering support, love and patience. This thesis was written with loving memories of my brother Tomi Bambacas, my uncle Doug Allen Smith and my yiayia Anna Moustakas. 4 Contents Abstract 1 Acknowledgements 2 Contents 4 List of tables and images 6 Introduction 8 Part 1 Reviewing the wedding literature Chapter 1 Thinking about “weddings” 16 “Weddings” and cultural reproduction 17 Exploring the feminine 29 Commercialisation of “weddings” 40 Chapter 2 Studying “weddings” 48 Cultural production, class and gender 49 Rethinking ideology and cultural power 57 Domination as institutional practice 68 Chapter 3 Methods , methodology, bridal texts 78 Thinking about methods 79 Australian publication market 87 Semiotics, representation and texts 100 Reading bridal texts 108 5 Part 2 (Re)- reading bridal traditions Chapter 4 Australian bridal publications 125 White wedding narrative 126 Women’s and gossip magazine covers 143 Bridal publication covers 155 Bridal planners as interactive 162 Chapter 5 Australian bridal planners 180 Bridal planners 181 Groom’s guide 193 Knowing bridal traditions 209 Chapter 6 Bridal planner traditions 229 Bridal traditions 230 Bridal cake 244 White bridal gown 256 Conclusion : Extending Tradition 263 Bibliography 278 Magazines 284 Film/documentary 285 Websites 285 6 List of Tables and Images* List of Tables Table 1: Australian Bridal Publications 88 List of Images Image 1: 173 Bride-to Be: Wedding Planning Guide Front Cover (2006/2007) Image 2: 174 Bride-to-Be: Wedding Planning Guide Workbook Cover (2006/2007) Image 3: 175 Bride-to-be: Wedding Planner Chapter 4: The Bride (2002) Image 4: 176 Bride’s Diary Interactive Wedding Planner Front Page (2002) Image 5, 6, 7: 177—179 Bride’s Diary Wedding Services Directory and Budget Planner (2002) Image 8: 219 Universal’s Complete Wedding Planner Wedding Reception Etiquette (1999) Image 9: 220 Bride-to-Be: Wedding Planning Guide Gift Registry (2006/2007) Image 10: 221 Bride’s Diary The Groom’s Guide Advertisement (1999) 7 Image 11: 222 Groom’s Guide Front Cover (2006) Image 12: 223 Groom’s Guide Wedding Day Checklist (2006) Image 13: 224 Groom’s Guide Wedding Rings Checklist (2006) Image 14: 225 Bride-to-Be: Wedding Planning Guide Wedding Workbook: Engagement Rings (2006/2007) Image 15: 226 Bride-to-Be: Wedding Planning Guide Wedding Workbook: Throwing Bouquet (2006/2007) Image 16: 227 Bride-to-Be: Wedding Planning Guide Wedding Workbook: Invitation Wording (2006/2007) Image 17: 228 Bride-to-Be: Wedding Planning Guide Wedding Workbook: Wedding Cake (2006/2007) *Images have been removed due to Copyright restrictions 8 Introduction The centrality of the bride to the white wedding is established by popular texts which posit the bride as ‘star’ and/or ‘celebrity’ of the wedding day. The white wedding is marked as such by a set of cultural conventions that are popularly coded as traditional bridal practices. These bridal traditions include, amongst others, the gifting of a piece of wedding cake to guests, the throwing the bridal bouquet and the white bridal gown. Popular discourses participate in the circulation of the white wedding as a social and cultural ideal. As such, women’s and gossip magazines publish special wedding souvenir editions to showcase royal and celebrity weddings. Royal weddings are coded as ‘real-life’ fairytales in the establishment of what constitutes the ideal wedding. Women’s publications function to disseminate ideas about the bridal role and traditional wedding thereby providing a context for the specialised genre of bridal publications. 9 Historically, weddings have not been an object of critical investigation despite the popularity of this cultural ritual. Critical reflections about the bridal role, traditions and the wedding are generally scant but the recent focus on weddings has resulted in the materialisation of studies concerned with either the wedding industry or wedding related consumption experiences. Although these studies have different concerns there is a general tendency