Societies change; weddings change; brides change. For an example, look no further than a recent magazine spread.
On Facebook, English-language publication Brides Today is dubbed “India’s premier couture, luxury and bridal magazine.” For its late-April cover, the periodical went profoundly progressive. The new issue features Alok Vaid-Menon — described as a “gender nonconforming and transfeminine author, performance artist, poet, and comedian.”
In preparation for the big day, surely many soon-to-be wives get waxed. Alok prefers an all-natural approach; to look sharp, the artist resists razors:
While the SC of India is still hearing the pleas regarding 'same-sex marriage', Brides Today magazine has sparked controversy all over for their latest magazine's cover. What is on the cover and why is it trending? Watch to know all about it. #samesexmarriage #NewsMo pic.twitter.com/LcW7aeaNpU
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) April 26, 2023
“You look absolutely fabulous in these photographs,” the magazine offers in an interview.
The bridal photos are far from typical; hence we turn to the topic of non-traditional unions. “Marriage equality (in India) is necessary,” Alok asserts, “and the continued denial of it constitutes a form of discrimination.”
Discrimination can be deadly; Alok laments that transphobes are hunting the marginalized. Moreover, it’s cis people who are badly in need of therapy:
“The reason LGBTQI+ people are hunted is because we have the audacity to embrace authenticity and autonomy in a world that prescribes conformity. People take their own insecurities and project them at us. If they were secure in themselves, they wouldn’t seek to deny and disappear us. In other words: the continued discrimination against our community is an indication of the mental health struggle of our non-LGBTQI peers.”
To be so beleaguered, the Alphabet Alliance appears to have procured impressive prominence:
New Transgender Owner of Miss Universe Celebrates an End to It Being Run by Men
New Victoria’s Secret Underwear Angel is Transgendered
Nearly One in Four Democrats Say Men Can Get Pregnant
Knitting Group Offers Plush Prosthetic Penises Transgender Children Can Wear in Their Panties
Trans Cheerleader Allegedly Strangles Squad Member After Phobia Inflames the ‘Man With a Penis’
The bridal realm isn’t the only family space to have gotten a gender-identity update. In May of 2021, Practising Midwife magazine spotlighted a new kind of birthing person. It’s been a while since the ’70s, but beards have finally come back. You might’ve suspected they’d make their return on men; but contemporarily, a face flocked with fur can be feminine:
'The Practising Midwife' Magazine Releases Transgender Issue Featuring Bearded Birthing Parenthttps://t.co/XRxOFj1vHa pic.twitter.com/hfjSKdmyx1
— Alex Parker (@alexparker1984) May 6, 2022
Back to Alok, the nonbinary bride has previously plunged into hot water. Per the New York Post:
Some critics targeted a since-deleted Facebook post from 2016 in which Alok allegedly said “Little girls are also queer, trans, kinky, deviant, kind, mean, beautiful, ugly, tremendous, and peculiar. Your kids aren’t as straight and narrow as you think they are” in response to bans on transgender women using female restrooms.
Perhaps the transfeminine trendsetter has since transformed. Speaking of, the concept came up in Brides Today. Alok delivered a definition:
“Love means we believe in one another’s infinite capacity for transformation. It means we affirm one another’s complexity.”
We’re certainly living in an increasingly complex world. And these days, the bride may be bushier and burlier than the groom.
-ALEX
See more content from me:
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