Thursday, April 19, 2012
Marriage and Social Status
While I was doing research for another class, I stumbled upon this article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9193834/Women-are-looking-for-sex-not-status.html
The title intrigued me and I decided to read it. I think it’s a very interesting piece of writing because a woman trying to marry into a higher class reaffirms the message that a woman needs a man to elevate her place in society. The two examples the author offers show the traditional way (Kate Middleton marrying into the ranks that Prince William occupies) and the unexpected marriage (a Princess’s daughter marrying a middle-class athlete). What does this shift say about present day circumstances? How do they play into the feminist movement? Although one could argue that the Zara Phillips (the Princess’s daughter) doesn’t need anyone to help her climb the social ranks, it is still interesting because many people maintain the idea that a woman should not marry beneath her. However, it is perfectly normal for a man to marry someone from a social class lower then his own.
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I think the fact that there is still this double standard speaks volumes about how much society's ideas about marriage are pretty much still the same. It could be argued that the last example about the woman marrying a social class down is point for feminists because it is an example of how in fact women don't need men to get social status. However, that wouldn't be looking at the story entirely. The fact that there is the expectation that the woman is still supposed to marry has she has to marry either within her social status or somehow higher is proof that even being at the top of the food chain women are required to aim higher. If not, you're settling right? While for a man there is the possibility he could be settling, but even then the man wouldn't receive too much criticism after a few years of marriage. It's really interesting to think about things like this. I mean we have made a lot of progress, but really it just seems that we've become more clever at disguising our faults.
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