Or just conspicuous consumption? Maybe both. Whatever it is, trashing bridal dresses for muddy, wet post-wedding photo-shoots is apparently all the rage. The letters in response to the article take a variety of views: (1) Why make such a big deal about brides letting off steam after a wedding? (2) It’s stupid, shallow, and excessive to spend lots of money on a wedding dress, whether you trash it or not (3) Quit with the reverse snobbery already and stop judging people who shell out for their weddings! (4) It’s terrible for women to attach such importance to their wedding days as if they have no worth on other days (5) It’s fun to do these photos! (6) The dresses aren’t really trashed– a bit of dry cleaning would fix them (7) Stop treating trends among a few wealthy elites as if they were an important social phenomenon! (8) There are some really lovely photos, and it’s great that people are actually starting to do some interesting wedding photography.
I find myself thinking each of these views holds appeal. Despite my indecision about the phenomenon, I feel the need to note this development, if only because the web site devoted to it shows such good taste in choice of WordPress theme. Those who’d like to do something useful with used wedding dresses might like to consider donating them to this charity. (On an irrelevant note, my first taste of this phenomenon was in the movie The Wedding Director, a scene in which a famous film-maker intervenes to make a wedding video far more dramatic and interesting.)
Feminist Philosophers 