Ariel Levy, "The Lesbian Bride's Handbook"
What is the right thing to wear to a wedding?
What is a wedding?
What is a public declaration of love?
What is love?
What is the right thing?
What is it to be married?
What is acceptable?
What is the wrong thing to wear to a wedding?
Is she a guest? Is she the bride?
Should she wear white?
Why shouldn't she wear black?
Why does she obsess about what she should or shouldn't wear?
How can she not outdo the bride?
If she is the bride, how can she outdo everyone else?
Does she have to wear a dress? Would a suit be appropriate? Would jeans?
Is the wedding formal?
P2) What is a real wedding?
What is real?
Why wouldnt she wear white?
Why is white a precedent?
Whats the difference between a gay wedding and a straight wedding?
Why does she prefer color over white?
P3) Why dont bohemians accecpt weddings?
What is a bohemian?
Why dosent she want a real wedding?
What is festive?
How much should you spend on a wedding?
Why wouldnt you spend lavishly on a wedding?
What is lavish?
Why is she not okay about the word marriage?
What is feeling okay?
P4) Why didnt she find marriage attractive?
What is attractive?
What is a "Party about love"?
What is a party?
Why spend the time?
Why spend the time on marriage arrangements?
What does marraige arraingements consist of?
P7) What should a wedding consist of?
Who set the standards for a traditional wedding?
What is traditional?
Are all weddings parties about love?
What is a party?
What is love?
What makes a good part vs. a bad party?
P8) Are good parties glamorous?
Do material items define glamour?
Do material items make or break atmosphere?
What is important about atmosphere?
It if's "hers-and-hers" is it an imitation of the "real thing"?
What is the real thing?
What is classy?
P9) What has she done?
Should she have listened to her mother?
She any of us listen to our mothers?
Is a wedding like a bat mitzvah?
Was her decision misguided?
Did she look before she lept?
Did she need to look?
P10) Is it ever too late?
Should she be doubting herself?
Where is the point of no return?
Is it all just a waste of time?
Does she need a wedding to prove her love?
Why do much doubt?
Did she go in over her head?
Why do they need to dfeclare their intentions?
#18 paragraphs 4-7
Does she really want to get married?
Does she feel okay?
Is the organizing bothering her?
Is the idea of her being marrried getting to her?
What is a "party of love"?
Why is there negative connotation - "fat gay wedding"?
Why is she mentioning the word "gay" in a bad way?
What's the big deal with the dress ? why yellow?
Why would she put herself through this?
Is it the money while plainning causing her frustration?
"idea...seems unnatural" - Is it love at first sight? What is love?
What's with the bright colors (dress, flowers)?
What's with the luxuries of the party?
Is this what she imagined her wedding to be?
Is this a wedding or a party?
If this isn't what she wants, why is she doing it?
How come she doesn't want to view it as a wedding (for what it is)?
Is Mrs. Norquist her future partners mother?
What is flawless?
Why does she care what everyone thinks?
Why is her mother's nicname Rocky?
What does her mother do for a living that she can wear pajamas to work?
Why are they all having such a herd time calling this a wedding?
What about the wedding made it rock?
How much $ is she selling the dress for on ebay?
Where was the wedding?
Why doesn't she have a lifestyle that would allow her to wear the dress again?
P 9- Is she picking a red dress?
Did she wear a red dress at her bat mitzvah?
Is it something she regreted?
Is she scared she is going to regret the wedding, too?
P 10- Why is she regretting the wedding so much?
Why would she want to cancell the wedding?
Why is it too late?
When is the wedding, who close is it?
P 11- Why is she so scared of formal wear?
Why is it not a real wedding?
What the difference between a wedding and a "party about love"?
P 12- Wh y is Amy always wearing a suit?
why exactly does Amy crave public acceptence
What exactly is so uncool?
Why isn't she excited? Why is Amy so excited?
P 13- Why is this green dress so special?
Why does she like it more that the others?
What was so skeptical about her sneakers?
Paragraph 14
- Why doesn’t she want to wear white?
- What’s so special about the one she saw?
- Why does she describe the salesgirl as a water lily of a woman
- Why does she say “my wedding” now instead of love party?
Paragraph 15
- Why are the dresses sp expensive?
- How are they able to make her look thinner or more expensive?
- Why did she pick the particular dress that she chose?
- Why was she thinking of Amy’s mother instead?
Paragraph 16
- Why did Mrs. Norquist not talk to Amy for a year after she finished college?
- Why does the narrator like Mrs. Norquist so much?
- Why does Mrs. Norquist gossip so much?
Paragraph 17
- Why are they staying in neutral territory?
- Why do they like talking about clothes so much?
- When are they not telling each other the whole truth?
- Why doesn’t Amy look at fashion magazines?
Paragraph 18
- Why would Mrs. Norquist see their lives as shameful?
- Why would the dress she bought make the fact they they’re homosexual less humiliating?
- Why is their homosexuality linked with horror?
Paragraph 19
- What made the narrator’s mom not care about anything?
- And why does the narrator care about this?
Paragraphs 14-19
14.)
-Why doesn't she want to wear white?
-What's so special about the dress she saw?
-Why does she call the salesgirl a water lily of a woman?
-Why does she say wedding now instead of love party?
15.)
-Why are the dresses shes looking at so expensive and how do they make her look thinner?
-Why did she pick this particular dress?
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What is a wedding?
ReplyDeleteA wedding is a celebration, a ceremony. A coming together of two individuals whether it be a male and a female, a female and a female, or a male and a male. It shouldn't matter. Who gets the right to decide what is right or wrong? why does it even matter? It is two individuals joining together to become one with love. To share a last name, to share a life.
What is love?
Love is something that is extremely difficult to find in people. It is giving someone your heart and hoping that they love you back enough not to break it. Love has to do with common interests and attractions to one another. Love is something you can not live without. something that if you are without this something that you love you begin to feel incomplete inside. being in love with someone means that that someone completes you, that you cannot live with out them. They are your other half.
What is flawless? P8
Flawless is perfection. The true question is who is the judge of perfection or flawlessness? In my opinion flawlessness is in the eye of the beholder. Being flawless means there is nothing else better out there.
Why doesn't she want to wear white?
ReplyDeleteAriel sees her "wedding" as somewhat of an imitation of how society sees weddings. Differences aside, the motivation behind her "wedding" is still the same as everyone else's: the life commitment of two people in love. However, just to acknowledge her awareness of the "special case" that she feels is her gay wedding, she wants to defy tradition and the societal expectation of having the bride wear a white dress. Aside from her political standpoint, she has an obligation to her bohemian mother and her conservative future mother-in-law to go against the current in honor of the former, but also look classy and beautiful in honor of the latter. Wearing a colorful, gorgeous dress satisfies both of these conflicting expectations.
Why is their homosexuality linked with horror?
Horror is not to be taken literally the way it is used here. Ariel has a certain sense of humor about her situation and the way both herself and society sees it. She's using hyperbole in saying "horror" to convey her slight embarrassment at being different than the majority of the population, and the range of discomfort that the straight population may feel or choose to verbally (and ignorantly) express when it comes to the gay lifestyle. American culture is still unfortunately in the progress of full tolerance of the gay lifestyle, so Ariel feels the pressures and strains of this burden weighing down on the idea of her wedding.
Why do they like talking about clothes so much?
Ariel and Mrs. Norquist are very compatible people. They have common interests and personalities. Ariel appreciates the normality of Mrs. Norquist in contrast to her own Bohemian, off-the-wall mother. And after all, we're all bound to be attracted to everything our own mothers are not. Their mutual appreciation for fashion makes the elephant in the room easier to ignore. The elephant of course being Ariel's intention of marrying Mrs. Norquist's daughter. If not for that, Ariel and Mrs. Norquist would be best friends. However, the mentality of reserved, traditional Mrs. Norquist is one that is not quite ready to be in love with the idea that her daughter is gay. Ariel knows this, and with irked respect she tiptoes around the reality of the situation and fills their time together with things that will have Mrs. Norquist see in her a positive light, like talking about clothes.
Many people may have their own reasons for getting married. Some get married for love, some for ritualistic obligations, and some for financial security. While people get married for all of these reasons, they also decide upon having a fancy wedding or just signing their names on their marriage licenses and calling it a day. But what is a true wedding? Is there even one answer to that question? Due to multiple point of views and ways of seeing the world, not everyone would see a wedding a something that has to be extremely fancy and lavish. The understanding of what is a wedding can range from something huge and extravagant to something small and meaningful. Most people would probably consider a wedding as a public declaration of love between two people (male and female) but when understanding the question from an anthropological perspective, this is incorrect. It does not have to be a declaration of love, it also does not have to be between two people, and apparently in some societies, it does not have to be between a male and a female. Homosexual marriage is now being widely accepted in cultures all over. With these ideas, on weddings it can be understood that there is no specific meaning behind it. It can be different things to everyone. The popular belief is that it is a public declaration of love. How do you publicly declare love? Is it by inviting all your friends and family and saying the words "I do" or is it the simple act of placing a ring on the person's finger that symbolizes love. Yet is it "you may now kiss the bride" reference? Perhaps its a combination of the three but whatever it is, it supposedly represents love. What is love though? How do we know if it is there? Personally I do not know. Is it a feeling that suffocates one and makes it hard to breath? Or is it a feeling that makes you feel as though you are on a roller coaster although you are on floor level? Perhaps it is a feeling that bring a the person on an escape from reality, one that appears surreal. Ive heard it was a feeling that took your breath away and that made your heart beat fast and slow at once. Is this the feeling that couples are compelled to share with the world and experience for what they think is the rest of their lives? Is this the feeling that blinds them and becomes the tool that plunges into their hearts in order to experience such a feeling? It might just be........
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