User:Laceysnyder/sandbox

womanless- wedding updated contributions/edits
Key:

·        Unbolded text is the current womanless wedding wiki page

·        Bold text are my contributions

·        Underlined text are the links to other wiki pages

Intro

A womanless wedding is a traditional community “ritual of inversion” performance, popular in the United States in the early 19th century.[1] In this comic ritual, the all male cast would act out all roles of a traditional wedding party – including those of bridesmaids, flower girls, and the mother of the bride – while dressed in gowns and dresses.[2] The event often raised money for charities, civic organizations, and churches.

The performances were so popular that scripts were developed around the idea, and the do-it-yourself theatrical productions were passed along from city to city.[1] Some of the stagings included impersonations of notable Americans, such as Henry Ford and Charlie Chaplin.[1]  The performances were often performed by known groups, such as the Civilian Conservation Corps’ (CCC) .

Social Implications

'''A womanless wedding would include a skit of a wedding ceremony, sometimes followed by a reception. The skits would elaborately make fun of gender stereotypes or other gendered qualities that went against the cultural norms of the community. Common themes included opinionated women, premarital pregnancies, males who expressed more feminine qualities than societal standards, racial minorities, and “rural folk.”1'''

Prominent male members of a community would typically be the actors of the womanless performances.1Their status would allow for their outlandish performances of stereotypical imitations of the minorities of a community, and the conditions of a community that went against the social norms of the culture in the spirit of entertainment to be accepted by the community with humor, rather than backlash and their masculinity being questioned by a community.

History

'''Early modern Europe, and American prior to the 19th century, used womanless weddings as a way to safely express social strains between classes. The actors were lower-class; would ridicule the social position of the upper-class through skits for entertainment purposes. The upper-class citizens benevolently approved of these acts as cultural acknowledgement of their status in society1. Performed throughout the United States, but most prominent in the upper Midwest and the South. Southern towns were already staging burlesque shows, and womanless weddings gave another opportunity to raise funds in the form of an admission fee.[2] Womanless weddings traditionally raised funds for causes and organizations, such as a North Carolina womanless wedding which was attended by more than 1000 people to raise funds for the Parent Teacher Association.[3] undefined By the 1990’s actors were compelled to confront their personal apprehensions with “cross-dressing, same-sex intimacy, and homosexuality”1, as portraying feminine roles within the skits no longer signified unwavering masculinity within the culture. By the 21st century, social changes and wanting to make a more “family-friendly” show caused performances of womanless weddings to adopt changing social standards, rather than slander others. Womanless Weddings were altered by removing all suggestive “gender confusion” through the sexual allusions of the scripts1.'''

Friend, Craig T. 2009. “The Womanless Wedding: Masculinity, Cross-Dressing, and Gender Inversions in the Modern South.” Pp. 219-245 in Southern Masculinity: Perspectives on Manhood in the South Since Reconstruction, edited by C.T. Friend. Athens: The University of Georgia Press.

(Friend is superscripted in added text as 1 (bold superscript 1)

Johnson, Colin R. 2007. “Camp Life: The Queer History of “Manhood” in the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1937.” American Studies 47(2):19-35

(Johnson is superscripted in added text as 2 (bold superscript 2)

Woman-less weddings intended contributions/edits
I intend to add information regarding the adaptations to woman-less weddings as society has changed, adding information regarding the purposes of woman-less wedding performances and detailing the description of what they are. Friend, Craig T. 2009. “The Womanless Wedding: Masculinity, Cross-Dressing, and Gender Inversions in the Modern South.” Pp. 219-245 in Southern Masculinity: Perspectives on Manhood in the South Since Reconstruction will be my primary source of information as it been the most informative regarding woman-less weddings as a specific topic, though not a research article it has been used as reference material in articles that mention woman-less weddings, but that aren’t directly related to woman-less weddings.

Woman-less weddings have adapted in the way they are preformed, who can perform them, and the themes of the skits through history depending on the social standards. Adding to the history section about how they were originally preformed in early America and early modern Europe by the lower class comically portraying the upper class behaviors as a way to relieve social tensions, the upper class as the audience approved of the skits by viewing them as a way to validate their social status. In the 19th century, the woman-less wedding's structure changed by how those prominent in the could only perform woman-less weddings without social consequences as the themes of the performances would spotlight on the conditions of the communities that went against the standards and values in the community. Civil Rights Movements of the 20th century greatly impacted how woman-less weddings were preformed and what themes could be use, as many of the populations of the movements were the subjects of  parodying in the woman-less weddings.

There is currently information about why woman-less weddings were performed in respects for the community using them for fundraisers, but there currently lacks details regarding the social impacts of how woman-less weddings were used to reinforced community values, by mocking the conditions not of value, and were used as a form of community entertainment. Additionally there is currently information of what a woman-less wedding is, I would like to detail more beyond that it is a comic community ritual acted out by men for fundraising purposes, by detailing what rituals of reversal are and how that relates to woman-less weddings.

Woman-less weddings bibliography possibilities
Jane Harris Woodside insert on Womanless Marriage beginning on pg. 359 in (Wilson, C. R., & Jackson, H. H. (Eds.). (2010). The new encyclopedia of southern culture : sports and recreation. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com) Hayes, H. (1936). ... A womanless wedding. Boston, Mass. and Los Angeles, Cal: Walter H. Baker Co.. Friend, C. T. (2009). Southern masculinity: Perspectives on manhood in the South since Reconstruction. Athens: University of Georgia Press.
 * Discusses common themes of the weddings, community meaning/significance, gives a starting point for the history prior to 20th century, discusses the oral passing of tradition and the beginning of the written history in America, and the shift to commercializing, characters were played by men with higher social status
 * Published copywritten script, gives description of characters, provides example to the commercializing of the tradition with "production fees"
 * Friend conducts a study called "The Womanless Wedding: Masculinity, Cross-Dressing, and Gender Inversions in the Modern South


 * Plays were meant for entertainment purposes, but pressured cultural values of race, gender, and sexuality, leading to more conservative opinions. Performers were those in society who created the social rules of the the cultural values, allowing them to act out the plays for charity and fund raising without social consequences.
 * "Prominent white men using entertainment to mock parts of southern society that tested social structure: strong willed women, premarital pregnancies, effeminate men, or unruly blacks"
 * Criticisms of prejudice, and civil rights movements, transformed the womanless weddings through time

Woman-less weddings possible contributions
The article on Woman-less weddings is very short, and does not provide very much information regarding the cermony and its purpose, other than it was a theatrical production used for fundraisers. I would like to add more about the history and the symbolism as to why the productions occured, and possibly a timeline. I'm going to try to find more references regarding woman-less weddings. I hope to see if there any correlation to the gay community, in an era were being gay was not open or safe, or if woman-less production have to do with the cultural beliefs of women's rights of the era.

Article Evaluation
Female body shape
 * No banner at the top of the page indicating its rating or if its part of any WikiProjects.


 * Physiology
 * Impact of estrogens
 * References don't appear to be authoritative (WebMD, science blogs)
 * Content is easy to read, using lay language instead to medical jargon, makes it helpful to understand the hormonal relationship within the body.
 * Some sentences missing citations at the end of the paragraph.
 * Fat distribution
 * Citations aren't authoritative (scales website, magazine article, etc.)
 * Not very neutral, a website that sells scales could be seen as more biased in their opinion than a medical article; similarly a magazine article titled that the "sex hormone is making women fat" doesn't appear neutral
 * Information is relevant to the female body.
 * Muscles
 * Information is relevant, but needs citations
 * Changes to body shape
 * Second paragraph has information regarding male body shape that doesn't seem relevant to the subject. Comparing the differences is useful, the the segments about the male shape doesn't seem to be useful if wanting to know about the female shape.
 * Some repeated information from previous segments, seems to have a more fluffer purpose than summary.
 * Measurements
 * First paragraph gives a vague description of the history of cultural definition of what the female body "should look like"
 * Uses a UK reference to describe US cultures regarding female body shapes, not sure if that's best reference.
 * Female shapes in the fashion industry
 * Uses objective information when describing the different body shapes, provides short definition and then mathematical formula for description.
 * Explains the differences between different cultures briefly
 * Dimensions
 * Information appears relevant, though it is missing citations
 * Cultural perceptions
 * Relevant information, some grammar and word choices seem questionable.
 * Social and health issues
 * Some information seems more relevant in the "Cultural perceptions" section
 * Rubens quote, last sentence of the last paragraph
 * Waist-hip ratio
 * Section doesn't appear needed, information makes for better flow to be in the previous waist-hip ratio section in "Dimensions" section, and the "Cultural perceptions", the health information makes sense in the "Social and health issue" section, the health information is limited and seems unnecessary to have a specialized section within a section
 * Bodies as identity
 * Section brings a more specific awareness to the societal/cultural norms and pressures of the female body
 * Alteration of body shape
 * Understandable, the breasts are the primary topic of this section, minimal discussion of other female body parts, not sure about how much reliable information there is that could lead to the input of other body parts, such as legs, arms, abdomen, facial features.
 * Social experiments on the ideal woman's body
 * Studies seem relevant to subject and section