Giving the Bride Away- Camryn Langley

 

This picture is a father giving away the bride to the groom. Marianne Weber, like her husband Max, suggests that Christianity has structured society. She suggests that marriage institutionally is patriarchal, partly due to its roots in Christianity, and that this patriarchal structure persists even if Christianity does not. She writes that the belief that women are supposed to serve men “has been reified into dogma up until the present in all of those circles that believe in ‘definitive revelations’, but has asserted its power beyond these circles as well” (citation). One example of Christian patriarchal beliefs asserting itself into marriage is the tradition of a father giving away the bride. Genesis 3:16 says “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you”. There are many Bible verses that echo the same sentiment that Marianne Weber is so cautious of, that husbands ultimately rule over their wives and have the last say in decision making. The tradition of a father walking the bride down the aisle symbolizes a change in ownership of the woman, almost like a sale. This philosophy, in Weber’s perspective, stifles the growth of a woman in marriage. She argues that a subordinated wife is “almost a child” and is “left mentally and spiritually behind” (citation). If the woman is simply going from the subordination to her father to the subordination to her husband, then women will not be able to be fully morally competent people. 

Citations:

Lauren, Demby. 2016. Untitled. From New York Times. Retrieved April 21, 2022 (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/09/fashion/weddings/bride-is-walked-down-aisle-by-the-man-who-got-her-fathers-donated-heart.html)

Weber, Marianne. 2003. “Authority and Autonomy in Marriage.” Sociological Theory 21(2): 85-102.