The Scientific Study of People Who Are Single:
An Annotated Bibliography

Bella M. DePaulo
Chair, Academic Advisory Board of the Spectrum Institute
Research and Policy Division of the
American Association for Single People (AASP)

January 2, 2004
 

  


7. Weddings and Other Rituals
 
 
Rituals mark events that are considered important within a culture. The ways that special events are customarily celebrated–often as family events--is also telling. Weddings, as the most lavish of all celebrations, underscore the value placed on heterosexual relationships. Study of the role of ritual in society illuminates the place of singles in society.


Geller, J. (2001). Here comes the bride: Women, weddings, and the marriage mystique. NY: Four Walls Eight Windows.

Gillis, J. R. (1996). A world of their own making: Myth, ritual, and the quest for family values. NY: Basic Books.

Ingraham, C. (1999). White weddings: Romancing heterosexuality in popular culture. NY: Routledge.

Otnes, C. C., & Pleck, E. H. (2003). Cinderella dreams: The allure of the lavish wedding. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Pleck, E. H. (2000). Celebrating the family: Ethnicity, consumer culture, and family rituals. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Yalom, M., & Carstensen, L. L. (Eds.). (2002). Inside the American couple: New thinking, new challenges. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. (Chapter 5. ‘You’ll never walk alone’: Lesbian and gay weddings and the authenticity of the same-sex couple.)


 

  
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