Consumption as common sense

Heteronormative hegemony and white wedding desire

Bibliographic Data

ID12698262
AuthorsPatricia Arend (Fitchburg State University, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume16
Issue1
Pages144-163
Publication date2014-02-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Consumer Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1469-5405 • E-ISSN: 1741-2900
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1469540514521076
OpenAlexW2322288393
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited36

The white wedding remains the most popular marriage ritual in the United States despite significant social change since its inception. Current research on this phenomenon focuses primarily on the influence of mass media, including advertising that socializes women and girls. I argue that while important, mass media alone cannot explain why many women want to have a white wedding. Drawing from data gathered primarily with survey research and free association narrative interviews, this article examines the white wedding desires of women who experience them as common sense. I use Ludwig’s concept of heteronormative hegemony to provide a more thorough account of both gendered subject formation and white wedding desire. In this analysis, women’s social consumption of mass media, embodiment of gendered habitus as taste and ritualized conversations with other women are particularly salient

Advertising · Art · Consumption (sociology · Habitus · Hegemony · Intersectionality · Mass media · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Taste · White (mutation · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Psychology

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