I had a British friend who was so proud of her country because of the publicized (little excessively) royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. The irony of her emotional reaction towards England’s national celebration was that she neither believed in the institution of marriage nor the church the royal wedding was conducted in.
The wedding I would suggest is the signifier, posing as a symbol of unity between two people who plan to live the rest of their lives together. However I note that this was no ordinary wedding, it was a Cinderella story. The Fairy Tale in itself is a signifier and it signifies that an ordinary person could climb the social ladder and reach the pinnacle of all they could hope for (in this case, to be a princess). Perhaps unknowingly, this was my friend’s interpretation of the event that such a fairy tales could happen (and it happens in England).
Looking largely at an economic aspect of the culture, the understanding that middle class to working class people (poorer and less important) don’t normally tear through the ceiling to reach the upper and ruling class (the rich and important) made this event far more symbolic than it should be. Hence, Cinderella or Kate Middleton becomes an object that people positioned in middle to lower class background would like to identify with (and some mistakenly do) because the subjective interpretation of the two means “a princess who was not born royalty and yet achieved it (so it absolutely WILL happen to me as well)”. Which brings me to the question, how many Cinderella stories are there? (In that I mean, should parents stop calling their little girls, “princess”?)
I think it's ok for every parent to call their daughter princess, as long as they are realistic about it and don't actually take her on million dollar shopping sprees when she's 4. Bold example, but it makes a point. I was also watching TV the other day about the whole royal wedding and it did mention that Kate grew up very wealthy and also made a very successful living for herself before she married the prince. Which, in essence, makes it even harder to grasp the idea that "middle/lower" class people have a chance to marry in a fairy tale wedding.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree though that this is an identifier of our culture because what little girl doesn't want to marry a prince? Weather the prince is actually a prince, or just the man of her dreams. We don't even know if Kate is madly in love with the prince or if he is the man of her dreams, but the media absolutely portrayed the wedding that way. Maybe after millions of dollars, an entire globe on your guest list, and a castle to live in more young girls will have the wedding of their dreams...
Wow- This is a great example of what we have been working on in class these past few weeks. I have to admit even I was watching the royal wedding with the thought that if Kate (a non royal) can marry a Prince, then anything is possible!!!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that Kate Middleton is the main object in this picture and in general with the marriage! Look for what she stands for now, not only a middle class women who defied the odds by marrying into a royal family but, she is also looked at as a style icon and as a idol ( what teenage girl doesn't want to become her?) Also on that note, with a connection from the comment above, I feel as if this is what many women feel as if they have to live up to now in life. A fairy tale wedding with a fairy tale man and a happily ever after, the media really milked this wedding for all it was!