Weberian Wedding

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     https://images.app.goo.gl/af98cy8P88me2s8V6

This image depicts a wedding shows a bride and groom standing in a church with their backs turned away from the camera. The bride wears a long white dress and veil while the groom is in a black suit. There are rows of guests dressed in formal wear standing in the pews. Two chandeliers hang from the ceiling, and the walls are painted white with grey finishing. Two religious leaders, one dressed in a white robe, are standing in front of the couple. To the right of the bride is a woman with her hair  in a bun, wearing a long lavender purple dress holding a bouquet,  presumably a bridesmaid.  A cross with an image of Christ hangs behind the couple. This depicts a traditional Christian wedding, or a ceremony in a church environment. 

Marianne Weber's essay "Authority and Autonomy in Marriage" describes how the conception of Christian marriage changed the social understanding of male and female roles in marriage.  While traditionally through the lens of patriarchy women are seen as subordinate to men, the institution of marriage asserts spiritual expectations around the behavior of both parties; "But in another direction,  Christianity created a large, new cultural product: the deepening of the demand of "legalized" monogamy into an indispensable religious-cultural imperative, that now was not only directed toward the woman, but rather, for the first time in history, toward the man as well." (Weber 2003 [1912]: 87) This process of marriage being seen as significant both religiously and culturally changed how the individual definitions of "husband" and "wife" were seen both separately and collectively. 


In the chosen image, the spiritual and cultural significance of marriage as a symbolic act is reflected in the Christian imagery and leaders surrounding the couple, as well as the presence of others in the family/community. The image presents a very traditional biblical idea of  Christian, heterosexual marriage that is upheld today in religious circles as a mark of morality and an appropriate expression of sexual intimacy and desire. As Weber details in her essay, marriage was seen as the ultimate expression of the subjugation of female autonomy and to a lesser extent, male sexual freedom. However, since spiritual commitment to church authority is the strongest foundation of Christian marriage, the husband and wife's union is seen in the context of their community, religious leaders, and biblical ideology. The scale of the image and camera's distance from its subjects symbolizes the focus on group and religious principles over the dynamics of the couple's individual marriage.    

  Weber, M., & Bermingham, C. R. (2003). "Authority and autonomy in marriage: Translation with introduction and commentary." Sociological Theory, 21(2), 85–102. 

Kelly, Eric. 2023. "10 Christian Wedding Ceremony Traditions. From Brides.com. Retrieved April, 2024 https://www.brides.com/christian-wedding-ceremony-traditions-4798681 



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