“The Royal We”

Abstract

Family rituals provide a rich context in which to study the relation between ideology and action. Guided by the gender perspective, this article analyzes the experiences of 21 newly married heterosexual couples who described how they planned their weddings. The interplay among gender ideology, gender display, and gender assessment differed across three types of couples: traditional ( n = 6), transitional ( n = 10), and egalitarian ( n = 5). An examination of gender assessment in transitional couples illustrates how holding competing ideologies contributes to the reproduction of hegemonic gendered work patterns within wedding planning.