The Second Time ’Round: Gender Construction in Remarried Couples’ Wedding Planning

Abstract

Humble, Zvonkovic, and Walker (2008) studied division of labor in first-time marriages, finding a range of gender construction. This study applied their conceptualization to remarried couples, for whom little is known about division of labor or wedding experiences. Fourteen couples in which at least 1 spouse had recently remarried were interviewed about their wedding planning. Data analysis consisted of direct content analysis, rank order comparison, and matrix analysis. Contrasting Humble et al.'s findings, traditional and egalitarian couples were more common than transitional couples. Although remarriages tended to involve smaller and less complicated weddings, the majority of the couples replicated gendered patterns from their first weddings in subsequent weddings.

KEYWORDS:

• content analysis
• division of labor
• divorce
• gender
• qualitative research
• matrix analysis
• remarriage
• ritual
• typologies
• weddings

This study was funded by a New Scholars' Internal Research Grant from Mount Saint Vincent University.