New and Old Female Gender Roles and Their Impact in Bridezillas
“This wedding is fucking over. I don’t got time for this shit. These people are just fucking crazy. We’re not having a fucking wedding. For real. We’re not having a fucking… Nobody is fucking ready. No! No!” says Dezjuan (Bridezillas). While this may not be the typical response someone has about their wedding, this is a fairly normal response for a bride on the reality TV show Bridezillas. The show is about how brides-to-be deal with wedding preparations and the wedding party. They are often depicted as selfish and controlling and generally throw a tantrum or two on camera, similar to the one in the beginning quote. Unfortunately, these depictions can lead to the reinforcement …show more content…
During the 1950’s, it was commonly believed that the husband “should have more power than his wife to make key decisions.” ("Gender Roles and Marriage: A Fact Sheet."). However, this is no longer a commonly held belief. In a 2008 study by the Pew Research Center Firstly, a telephone survey was conducted in order “to assess the decision-making process in American homes” ("Gender Roles and Marriage: A Fact Sheet."). Of the 2250 adults surveyed, forty-three percent of the couples “reported that the woman makes decisions in more areas than the man.” ("Gender Roles and Marriage: A Fact Sheet."). Conversely, twenty-six percent of them “reported that men make more of the decisions”, and shared decision making was “reported by thirty-one percent of couples” ("Gender Roles and Marriage: A Fact Sheet."). The increased role of female decision making is a huge step towards more gender equality, and it is also apparent in Bridezillas. In the show, the female role is to orchestrate the entire event and make all or most of the decisions. In contrast, the male role is to sit back and let his bride-to-be do as she wishes with little to no commentary. In fact, the advice of Ariel to other brides-to-be was “Don’t listen to the groom. Don’t listen to your mom. Don’t listen to anyone because you need to get what you want.”, and her fiancé Brook’s advice to other grooms-to-be is “to just chill out and go with the flow” …show more content…
The brides often exhibit more masculine aggression while still looking very feminine, and as a result, the audience views them as both aggressive and attractive. Unfortunately, media depictions of aggressive and attractive women reinforce both masculine and feminine gender role expectations for women (Taylor & Setters). Due to this, the audience watching the aggressive and attractive female protagonist may develop higher expectations for women (Taylor & Setters). These expectations can lead to societal problems such as eating disorders (Taylor & Setters). In addition, women especially seem more prone to developing these high expectations for other women (Taylor & Setters). The high expectations of women for other women is also apparent in Bridezillas. The brides on the show have even higher expectations for the other women. After Joraine’s bridesmaids show her how they look in their dresses, Joraine exclaims to one of them “Turn around! WHAT IS THIS! Have you been snacking? There is too much junk in that trunk!” (Bridezillas). Even before the women came downstairs Joraine stated that the purpose of the bridesmaid dress showing was “to make sure that they don’t look like whores.” (Bridezillas). Calling other women fat reinforces the idea that women should strive to have a photo shop unattainable body, and trying to attain the perfect body can lead to lower self-esteem
“This wedding is fucking over. I don’t got time for this shit. These people are just fucking crazy. We’re not having a fucking wedding. For real. We’re not having a fucking… Nobody is fucking ready. No! No!” says Dezjuan (Bridezillas). While this may not be the typical response someone has about their wedding, this is a fairly normal response for a bride on the reality TV show Bridezillas. The show is about how brides-to-be deal with wedding preparations and the wedding party. They are often depicted as selfish and controlling and generally throw a tantrum or two on camera, similar to the one in the beginning quote. Unfortunately, these depictions can lead to the reinforcement …show more content…
During the 1950’s, it was commonly believed that the husband “should have more power than his wife to make key decisions.” ("Gender Roles and Marriage: A Fact Sheet."). However, this is no longer a commonly held belief. In a 2008 study by the Pew Research Center Firstly, a telephone survey was conducted in order “to assess the decision-making process in American homes” ("Gender Roles and Marriage: A Fact Sheet."). Of the 2250 adults surveyed, forty-three percent of the couples “reported that the woman makes decisions in more areas than the man.” ("Gender Roles and Marriage: A Fact Sheet."). Conversely, twenty-six percent of them “reported that men make more of the decisions”, and shared decision making was “reported by thirty-one percent of couples” ("Gender Roles and Marriage: A Fact Sheet."). The increased role of female decision making is a huge step towards more gender equality, and it is also apparent in Bridezillas. In the show, the female role is to orchestrate the entire event and make all or most of the decisions. In contrast, the male role is to sit back and let his bride-to-be do as she wishes with little to no commentary. In fact, the advice of Ariel to other brides-to-be was “Don’t listen to the groom. Don’t listen to your mom. Don’t listen to anyone because you need to get what you want.”, and her fiancé Brook’s advice to other grooms-to-be is “to just chill out and go with the flow” …show more content…
The brides often exhibit more masculine aggression while still looking very feminine, and as a result, the audience views them as both aggressive and attractive. Unfortunately, media depictions of aggressive and attractive women reinforce both masculine and feminine gender role expectations for women (Taylor & Setters). Due to this, the audience watching the aggressive and attractive female protagonist may develop higher expectations for women (Taylor & Setters). These expectations can lead to societal problems such as eating disorders (Taylor & Setters). In addition, women especially seem more prone to developing these high expectations for other women (Taylor & Setters). The high expectations of women for other women is also apparent in Bridezillas. The brides on the show have even higher expectations for the other women. After Joraine’s bridesmaids show her how they look in their dresses, Joraine exclaims to one of them “Turn around! WHAT IS THIS! Have you been snacking? There is too much junk in that trunk!” (Bridezillas). Even before the women came downstairs Joraine stated that the purpose of the bridesmaid dress showing was “to make sure that they don’t look like whores.” (Bridezillas). Calling other women fat reinforces the idea that women should strive to have a photo shop unattainable body, and trying to attain the perfect body can lead to lower self-esteem