The Greatest Trick of the Devil
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Photo by Flickr user Franco Folini. Used under a Creative Commons license.
Zula of Submissive With Claws says
I only want Dad to "give me away" at my wedding (assuming I ever get married) if my husband-to-be is walked down the aisle by his mother. Either he's escorted too, or I get to walk down the aisle by myself, like a big girl.To my amazement, my mother and sister dismissed the idea, saying things along the lines of, "Oh, it doesn't mean that anymore!" (That is, "giving away" the bride no longer means the father is relinquishing dominion over her.)
I've heard a phrase along the lines of, "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist." The same thing can be said of sexism.
Yup, the same can definitely be said of sexism. One can only "give away" that which is in one's possession. One can only receive that which is given away if the given-away thing becomes one's possession.
That doesn't mean that the parent of a grown child should never accompany them down the aisle at a wedding -- my mom walked with me just as my partner's father walked with her. We all enjoyed it very much and I don't think we would have had it any other way. We just were mindful enough, though, to make it quietly clear that it was *our* wedding, one *we'd* arranged, and therefore nobody was giving anybody away... even if "it doesn't mean anything anymore."
Thanks for quoting me! :)
[Happy to, Zula. Thanks for the insight. --fl]