Rebels' Guide

I’m slowly catching up on emails this week and finally got to a sweet email that Scott and Angel sent me after their wedding: The only feedback my husband and I have is…to keep doing what you do! You know you have an incredible celebrant when the words that he used in your ceremony made you cry. Josh found a way to incorporate brief parts of previous conversation and elements of who we are as a couple into our ceremony and it was not only entertaining but honest and moving. We would not hesitate in referring Josh to anyone who’ll listen! And words like that really smack me in the face and remind me that life isn’t all tax and bills, I’m actually a very lucky boy. But it lead me to thinking about Scott and Angel’s wedding. Angel’s spine has made it so that walking and standing is a sport for her. So many of us just do it without thought, but Angel has to put some effort into it. So when it came to their marriage ceremon...

Is there a link between celebrating marriages and re-inforcing male privilege that leads to domestic violence? Many in my community are terribly saddened by the loss of a young mum’s life at the hands of domestic violence. Two lives in Australia are lost every week as a partner violently harms the person they are supposed to care for the most. I’ve been simmering on this thought for a while now and as mentioned in the post title, it’s a long bow to draw, but I think that outdated and sexist wedding traditions have an indirect link to domestic violence. This blog post ignores the medical and health side of domestic violence, if only because I’m not the expert there. A man taking out his anger physically and violently on his partner must partially stem from an illness deep inside him, but it also carries a lot of male privilege. That guy has got to believe he almost has the right to hurt his wife or partner. That’s the kind of male privilege that ou...