So the other night I was in a card store with my SIL (sister in law), and she was looking for a couple of wedding cards. I haven't been in a card store for a while, because should a card be required, I make it with my own hot little mitts. That's right, I can get crafty. I'm not a Family Circle style crafter that has an affinity for the Ducks-With-Bonnets motif (who the hell thought that one up, I always wonder), but I can get arty-cardy.
So, we're in this card store, and I see that there is a card with a HEADLESS BRIDE on it. Yeah, like a bride with no head. "Look at that!" I said. "A headless bride!" When we took a closer look, we saw that what it was supposed to depict was the bridal dress, with no bride in it, just standing there, upright and ghostly. The sleeves didn't show any hands because where the hands would stick out was covered by the bouquet. And there are shoes peeking out from under the dress. So it really did look like a bride with no head. Ha ha. Funny.
But the thing is, we looked at that section of cards, and there were TONS of headless bride cards. It's, like, in fashion or something. Card after card of empty dresses and bouquets with no bride. "Look, there's another one, " SIL would say, "and another one. And ANOTHER one." And after a while, I started to get creeped out.
Now, I know what you're thinking. I tend to get creeped out by traditional bridality in general, so you think I'm just extending my non-bridal feelings to these perfectly acceptable cards. But that's not true. I mean, just THINK about this. A headless bride. Over and over again. This HAS to mean something, doesn't it? Like, the dress is so paramount, that it doesn't matter who/what the bride is. The accoutrements of Wedding Land are what matter, people, and don't you forget it. The bride's happy face? Forget it. The bride's corporeal being? Mere detail. Come on, isn't that kind of icky? Just a little?
I don't know. Maybe I AM just biased. I probably shouldn't have gotten so worked up about it. It's just a few cards, after all. I guess I just lost my head.
Kiss the rings, I'm out.
Librarian Girl
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Where's Your Head At?
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4 comments:
omg, I just burst out laughing at your blog. Amazing that you would notice that, though. What a good point you had in the fact that weddings have become so superficial. Or.....maybe they're comparing a marriage to women losing their heads.....
Weddings and marriage make perfectly sane women lose their heads...and arms. Another reason to stay single, lol!
You have to wonder where all the headless grooms are... huh.
I see the repeated pattern of the headless bride more as a statement about the current state of marriage. In today's modern society, the fancy wedding dress will often outlast the marriage. And that, my friend, is my cynical outlook on the whole thing.
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