I don't know why, but "Say Yes to the Dress" is one of my favorite shows. I'm not even getting married any time soon, but I just love seeing all the different wedding dresses. However, after reading Steinberg's article that links consumerism to Barbie and all her products, I now see the vast ways consumerism is instilled within shows about weddings.
On "Say Yes to the Dress" their motto is, "It's easy to say yes to a man, but saying yes to the dress is way harder!" It places importance on material things such as having the perfect wedding gown over choosing a lasting relationship. And the weddings gowns on this show are not affordable! It's hard to find a dress on that show for anything under $2000, and the women often have emotional breakdowns if they can't afford the dress of their dreams. It tells the viewer that having an expensive gown is important and looking for a dress on a strict budget won't fulfill your dream. This show airs on TLC which has a lot of shows about weddings that also place importance on having a dream location, the best food for your guests, the most creative decorations, and first rate entertainment. These things add up but they fulfill an ideal that shows like this make which tells women that their wedding is the most important day of their life and HAS to be PERFECT.
"Say Yes to the Dress" enforces other ideals such as having a heterosexual relationship and wearing white to a wedding. It also says that brides have to be young. Often times when an older bride comes in the consultants have trouble finding her a gown that goes well with her "age". In the many episodes I've watched, there was one lesbian couple that came in both intent on wearing pants in their wedding but because the salon didn't offer pants, they persuaded one of the women to wear a pricy white gown. It's a shame there aren't more shows about having a wedding on a budget or planning untraditional weddings for homosexual couples, middle aged couples, or just ANYONE!
I don't know why I'm so fascinated by the show too! The same things happen every time but it's just so addicting! Your post gave a really interesting critique about consumerism though. I never thought about the show that way. I just thought it was really sweet to hear about how in love the bride is with her groom but if she is so in love then why does a dress matter so much? Especially one that's going to cost thousands of dollars that you wear only one time! I also really liked how you criticized the ideals the show enforce about heterosexual relationships. I didn't think about the huge group of people they're leaving out in this show.
ReplyDeleteI am also really into Say Yes to the Dress and also Four Weddings. I always wanted to visit Kleinfeld's in New York and had dreams of getting my wedding dress from there. But after reading these articles I've come to the conclusion that its all about materialism and being perfect. Like you said, the women on this show feel they are making a bigger commitment to their dress than their significant other. In reality, not everyone can afford to wear a $2000 gown to their wedding, let alone pay that much for a wedding in general. As for the show Four Weddings, I think that the level of expectation women have for their wedding day, looking perfect, having a great location for the reception, and other qualities are all too stressful. Its your wedding day! It should be one of the most memorable days of your life... not one to be worried if you picked the right color flowers or if your hair gets a little messy.
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