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Defining the dream: Same-sex marriage on Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings
- Source: Queer Studies in Media & Popular Culture, Volume 9, Issue 2, Jun 2024, p. 167 - 181
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- 21 Aug 2023
- 02 Oct 2023
- 05 Jul 2024
Abstract
Since the US Supreme Court recognized the fundamental right to same-sex marriage, the wedding industry has expanded to a new slate of consumers. The Walt Disney Company has been no different, marketing towards same-sex Disney fans hoping to have their own ‘fairy tale wedding’. However, due to Disney’s ‘family-friendly’ brand identity and their complex relationship to the queer community, this process has been highly fraught. This is evidenced in Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings (DFTW), an infotainment series following the planning and execution of elaborate, Disney-themed marriages, engagements and anniversaries that both promotes Disney’s catalogue of economic holdings such as parks, cruises and expeditions, as well as reinforces a unique Disney brand of romance. Through a content and political economic analysis of DFTW, I argue the show exemplifies the reabsorption of counter-hegemonic ideologies into a dominant framework, wherein ‘non-traditional’ marriages help consolidate pre-existing systems of power and reinforce oppressive economic regimes.