Weddings by Proxy: A Cross-cultural Study of the Proxy-Wedding Phenomenon in Three Films

Abstract

In this paper, firstly I endeavour to explore the basic aspects of the theoretical debates regarding the conceptualisation of ‘social gender’. Subsequently, I attempt an indi - cative reading of inter-gender and inter-cultural conditions, in regards the practice of proxy-brides as a socio-cultural event, through three cinematic works, i.e. Tom Cowan’s 

Promised Woman (1975), Jan Sardi’s Love’s Brother (2004) and Dover Kosashvilli Late Marriage (2001). The ultimate purpose is to explore the degree in which, within proxy-wedding situations, and amongst (or even outside) migrational groups, both women and men may constitute minority categories, in the sense of the subaltern and/or oppressed.