How Do You Feel About "Feminist" Wedding Trends?

Getting married? Not taking a new last name, not wearing a veil or not having your dad walk you down the aisle? You might be a....feminist.

At least, according to The Daily Mail. Katy Winter's article "Rise of the Feminist Wedding" reports on some gasp-worthy new non-traditional wedding trends, including wearing a color other than white. She writes:

The image of a veiled bride walking down the aisle on her father's arm could become a thing of the past as a growing trend for 'feminist weddings' has been detected among modern brides to be. Doing away with the engagement ring, choosing not to be 'given away like property' and wearing a colour other than white are key themes gaining traction in the feminist wedding trend.

I guess it's not possible that some women want to break from tradition on their wedding days because they feel that's what fits their own personality, not because they're trying to fit into a "feminist" trend, is it? Not to mention that women might be making different wedding-related decisions because of family situations, finances, religious beliefs, or endless other variables that could affect women's lives and choices. Or hey, maybe that male fiance doesn't want a bride in white, with an engagement ring he had to go into debt to afford. But male choices don't factor into matrimony at all after the proposal, right? Weddings simply must be all about the bride and her fairytale dream or bridezilla choices.

Don't worry, though, traditionalists. Women who want to have a ceremony and marriage that reflect on something other than millennia of oppressive tradition are still in the minority. Phew! Winter adds:

However, while there is undoubtedly a stirring among young brides to be, parents can take comfort in the fact that while some women are beginning to push back against the patriarchy, the majority are still keen to uphold certain traditions, with 76 per cent of brides saying they really would like their father to walk them down the aisle.

The Daily Mail is well-known for their backwards and misogynistic coverage of anything and everything relating to women, particularly their body-snarking and body-policing of female celebrities, but calling out the natural evolution of modern weddings as part of some kind of dastardly feminist plot to overthrow tradition is a new low for them. It's true that most people don't take The Daily Mail seriously as a news source, but that doesn't mean their brand of rhetoric doesn't have an impact. Until the "Daily Fail" stops demonizing anything that veers from the path of the silent, dutiful, virginal woman, we'll keep calling them out on it.