UK Teen Wedding... MUST read!

[gwendolyn]

Date: 10/30/2008 9:37:17 PM
Author: rockzilla
If you''ve ever seen ''The Riches'' on FX...I believe they are supposed to be a traveller family, except living in the US.


It''s very interesting to see a kind of subculture that we don''t really have exposure to over here in the States. Would they be considered an ethnic minority? I''m not sure. Yes, the wedding is ridiculous and over the top by mainstream standards. But, within groups there are cultural differences. Latinos have quicineras...some may say it is ridiculous to spend so much money on a 15 year old and dress her up in a bride-like getup...but it is a cultural thing. When looking at photographers, I saw a wedding where all the men were in zoot suits and fedoras...not having grown up in SoCal, I was like ''Huh? That''s funny looking'' but my fiance informed me that it is a common way to dress in the Mexican-American/ Latino culture. Many other cultures take weddings extremely seriously and have outrageously expensive (and outfitted) ceremonies and receptions to match.


I''m wondering why this is in the news...is it because she is a teenager? Because her dress is trashy looking? Because her family is a minority ethnic group, that is presumed won''t have enough money to pay for this? We see $100K+ weddings on TV all the time (platinum weddings anyone?) and generally the response is...well, I wouldn''t do it that way, but if you have the $$$...


Interesting look at value judgments, that''s to be sure. I''m always interested in looking at cases with minority groups that have managed to remain self-contained, even within a larger, often conflicting culture.

Yes, they are considered an ethnic minority, in the UK. I have a student in my class from a family of travelers; no one in the family is literate so I had to fill out the medical forms with the mother during the parent/teacher conference. ''Traveler'' was an option listed on the form under the ethnicity section.

Being American, I have had no experience with travelers prior to having this student in my class. He comes to school in the same stained clothes every day, and my co-workers tell me that''s normal for travelers. He doesn''t bring a backpack to school, doesn''t bring in gym clothes or lunch money, and I''m told this is all normal for travelers. Maybe the people I work with are biased, though; I don''t know. But it does seem like the stereotype here is that travelers couldn''t usually afford such a wedding, which might be why it ended up in a newspaper?

 

[Carrots]

if they''re happy, their happy. more power to them.

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 10/30/2008 9:02:41 PM
Author: AllieLuv83
Gypsy no one said anything insulting I just didn''t know what a caravan was. From the context of the article it seemed something like having a trailer in America.

My comments weren''t directed at your posts at all, and no, you didn''t say anything judgemental, just asked a simple question. No worries.

 

[swingirl]

When you have a wedding like that at 16 what the heck do you do for your senior prom??? Hey, those bridesmaid's dresses will come in mighty handy!!

 

[miraclesrule]

OMG too interesting.

You know how some days you just pray for something to make you feel a little more ...ummmm, "normal"???

Well, this did it for me.

 

[Nocturnius]

No judging here, but these are my thoughts.

A) There''s a difference between "there is a low divorce rate because they are genuinely happy to be married" and "there is a low divorce rate because it is frowned upon in their culture." If it was still socially frowned upon in the US, we would see unhappy couples staying in unhappy marriages and our divorce rate would be low, too. A low divorce rate doesn''t mean that there are more happy marriages - it just means they''re pressured not to get divorced either way.

B) If they are happy, then great. I don''t judge couples based on their age, because maturity comes in all ages. But that girl''s attitude in that article does not say "ready for marriage" to me. She sounds like a typical self-centered 16 year old who needs to grow up first.

I don''t care for the dress, but it doesn''t bother me, either. It''s her attitude that''s uglier than anything else.

 

[SparklyLibra]

It would appear that most of these Traveler Brides have the same.... errr.... Cup size? What a coincidence

LOL!

This is very amusing!

~SL.