Feminist analysis of the royal wedding

[DontdoitKatie]

This is one of the times when you realise how very lonely seeing things through a feminist lens can make you.

Patriarchy in all its glory.

exhibit B phew.

Why on earth is it anti-feminist to dress nicely and wear a hat?....

someone is doing that 'women are nastier to other women than men are' thing

where on earth has someone said that Theants?

eurgh, yes, that 'free porn for schoolchildren' thing was not good.

Add message | Report | Message poster SybilBeddows Fri 29-Apr-11 11:12:15
I know! It's all so beautiful isn't it?
enormous amounts of talent, skill and work have gone into producing this.
and look at all the women in their fancy dresses, who are going to get marked out of 10 for how successfully they have fulfilled their decorative role.

Is that not what you were saying Sybil

No, that is totally not saying it is antifeminist to dress nicely and wear a hat I am pretty amazed you have read that into it actually.

I am saying that this occasion created different roles for men and women in which the women's role was to look nice (and indeed, wear a hat) and the men's role is more active. That doesn't mean it's antifeminist to take part, it means that there is a gender distinction being enforced and that gender distinction is sexist.
In an ideal world hat-wearing and dressing nicely would be open to all, as would officiating at weddings, singing in the choir, speaking, etc.

or rather, that's what I'm saying elsewhere on the thread.
In that post I'm acknowledging the aesthetic excellence of the wedding despite the fact that much about it is regressive, and also drawing attention to the fact that women get held up to be judged in a way that men don't. Which is not fair.

Seriously, I have no desire tone a seco d class citizen, I have little understanding of the term "feminist" other than to mean that a woman has equal rights as a man, but I fail to see how dressing up deminishes being an equal

Sorry, auto correct

It's not the dressing up Theants, it's the idea that we judge a woman purely for how she looks and disregard her thoughts or actions. By doing that the power shifts from the woman to the person judging and she is diminished to nothing more than an object to be critiqued and her value determined by others.

By "we" I meant society, a patriarchal society. Obvious did not mean we on the feminism board!

Yes, the day I see people discussing how Male Guest X was too fat to wear that type of suit or Male Guest Y's tie made him look like a slag is the day I eat my unfashionable hat.

I thought the Archbishop's headgear looked made out of cardboard

But surely it is not men interested on discussing women in this way? In my experience it is women who slag off women.. So is that still anti feminist? If I dont like a womans outfit or for instance, I thought Samantha Cameron could have made more of an effort, am I anti feminist? I am not judging her worth as a woman, just if I was her, I would have really gone for it

i've seen the archbish slagged for not brushing his hair today. and harry, actually. and lots of shots of elton and david (conforming to the dress standard expected). and some comments about how ill fitting the prince's uniforms were. and media comment about will's choice of attire and picking the one that would look nicest on camera. i mean, they didn't say he was too fat to wear the others, just said they were too boring so he went for the red. heard the same comments about the queen's choice of frock today though also saw criticism of david beckham not knowing which side to wear his obe.

the hats thing is a bit of a misnomer really - the blokes who were wearing them have to take them off before they go into church (also saw wills criticised for having a hat mark at this point ), so a gendered rule but no less pointless. (the hats/ gloves rules are bizarre anyway tbh). i wondered if samcam was making a deliberate point with the no hat thing - v brave if so. (but then also seen the media suggestion that beatrice and eugenie's outfit choices were a deliberate snub for not inviting their mother...)

nothing to the extent of the critical comment on the female guest's choices, but a fair smattering of interest in the male peacockery...

but i haven't really seen a lot tbh. the only fashion commentator here that i saw was a bloke, except for a random woman who kept calling those damn silly hat things 'fascinors' instead of 'fascinators'.

fwiw, i see a royal wedding as a historical pageant, which has little or no bearing on the real world. i kind of think that the ceremonial and deliberately patriarchal tosh is slowly evolving - and that it will continue to evolve tbh. where the 'real world' glimpses came (policewomen on duty/ female security guard in the front seat of kate's car/ female helicopter pilot) there was no obvious mention of 'oooo, look, there are women here working and not just looking purty/ hideous', it was taken pretty much for granted that it was the norm. (i'm assuming this was the same in the uk).

apparently the highlight of tonight's tv is some bloke interviewing david furnish about the wedding though... so i'm def going to watch that and see what on earth he's going to say...