Is the Wedding Dress our Burqa?

[Must_B_Free]

couldn't help but notice the similarity in the veil that covers the face. Sure, you can see through ours, but isn't it rooted in the same tradition?

How can we revile their tradition so much when on some level, we participate in it?

http://www.wedfrugal.com/files/pactraditionveil.html

[KissMyAsscroft]

1. We revile them because our government wants their oil.

All other reasons are manufactured.

It's not like we are taking particular umbrage with the way Eskimos dress.

[Iceburg]

2. Yes and No: A wedding dress cost considerably more :-)

[leesa]

14. Exactly.

Although it's an interesting concept. I never could understand why women desired that subservience thing.

[Dogmudgeon]

3. Yes, to a degree

Even the symbol of the wedding ring harkens back to chains and shackles.

Marriage in Europe was re-codified according to Christian principles -- that is, Roman, Greek, and Hebrew principles -- as the church began to spread through Europe. A lot of it is symbolic of a feudal society's idea of marriage, which is utter subservience for the woman and a form of straw-boss slavery for the man.

When the time comes for me to wed, give me a new age chick who wants to write our own vows and get hitched by the High Druid under the sacred oak tree ... in the nude.

--bkl
Hopeless. Romantic.
But not always at the same time.

[shugah]

9. wedding ring symbolism

my understanding was that in old tymes, people believed that there was a vein (probably not called "vein" - but the equivalent perception at the time) that ran from the heart to the ring finger on the left hand, and that is why the band of gold is placed there - not shackled, but symbolic of love.

of course, i could remember this totally wrong. but i'm sure i read something like that somewhere.

[SOteric]

4. I'm not sure we can in anyway compare the two.

The original intention of the veil on Judeo-Christian and early Islamic women (and the head-coverings for men as well) was with the intent of preventing individuals from standing in the inner temple of god in flagrant display of their vanity.

Whatever the intent of the veil may have been, in the westernised wedding ritual, it's anything but a modesty piece. The cost is astronomical and typically used to enhance vanity rather than obscure it.

[Eric J in MN]

5. There is a difference between wearing something once or twice

There is a difference between wearing something once or twice (or more in some cases) in a lifetime, and wearing something whenever one goes out.

[ashling]

6. Not all "wedding dresses" have a veil.

at my wedding, the bride was lovely in her red painters pants and springtime plaid short sleeve shirt, while the groom (that was me) was suave and debonair his brown corduroy jacket, faded blue jeans, and cowboy boots which were fashionably held together with duct tape (ahead of my time I guess).

That was 24 years ago (almost)

[Pithlet]

11. How true.

I was wearing a maternity outfit when I got married last year.

[yardwork]

7. Give me a break!

Brides who wear veils do so as a matter of choice. It's a recent tradition in the United States anyway, that didn't become popular until after WW II. The symbolism is highly debatable, and most veils don't cover the bride's face anyway. It is a matter of fashion, period.

This is definitely NOT equivalent to a repressive government that requires all women to be covered head-to-toe every time they go out in public, or be punished by beating with chains or even execution.

[John_H]

8. Yes, Must-be-Free!! All those women walking around in wedding dresses

are required to do so by law! I see them at work, at the mall, picking the kids up from school, everywhere!!! Free the Brides!! Free the Brides!!

[Katie]

10. John.. Rofl!!

free the brides~! lmaoooo

[kittykitty]

12. All kinds of veils and headcoverings everywhere

veils worn by nuns, veils worn by women in mourning (at funerals), veils worn by courtesons in harems, women in saris who cover their heads, Mary always shown with a veil--throughout history women have worn headcoverings of various styles.

[Redleg]

13. Only if you want it to mean that.

Otherwise, no.