Visibility, power and exclusion: The (un)shifting constructions of normativity in wedding tourism brochures

Rydzik, Agnieszka; Agapito, Dora; Lenton, Charlotte

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/17063

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Authors

Rydzik, Agnieszka

Agapito, Dora

Lenton, Charlotte

Abstract(s)

This article examines the trends in dominant representations of couples and places in wedding tourism promotional materials. It applies an eleven-category visibility framework to analyse 671 images from 16 years (2004-2019) of brochures from a UK-based tour operator. Content analysis shows that majority-centric imagery remains dominant throughout, with minority groups significantly under-represented, despite wider societal changes. Drawing on an intersectional approach, the article makes visible power asymmetries, omissions and inequalities in tourism representations. It argues that such exclusions and narrow portrayals of couples perpetuate not only the hegemonic messages of heteronormativity but also reinforce whiteness, age and body normativity, while maintaining gender stereotypes and intertwining traditional wedding ideals with consumerist desires for secular consumption.