The Paradoxical Rise Of The Viral Marriage Proposal

by Nicole Winchester on 08 Jan, 2015 - 0 comments

At Buzzfeed, Chloe Angyal writes about the paradox of the viral or public marriage proposal. In an age where fewer young (North) Americans are getting married, the public proposal is more popular than ever. According to Chloe, it’s not just social media feeding this trend:

The urge to perform, and the opportunities and expectations to do so, have expanded far beyond proposals and pre-wedding photography. For many years, the usual public exchange of vows has been supplemented by various other performances of coupling, like the bride and groom’s entrance at the reception and their first dance. Now we have choreographed dance numbers for the wedding party, which are recorded and posted online, where they can go viral… 

This is just one of several paradoxes at the heart of how we perform and consume love today: As marriage becomes less popular, the performance of it becomes more insistent. Another paradox: Despite the intimate nature of romantic love, straight, cis couples seem more intent than ever on displaying it in public. And, though we talk about romantic love as priceless, declaring to the world that you’re in love, and declaring it in the manner that romantic comedies and our new public square have taught us is desirable, is awfully expensive — and many twentysomethings are broke.

Definitely an interesting read! If you have thoughts, comment or tweet at us!