Unraveling the Knot: Political economy and cultural hegemony in wedding media

This article examines the hegemonic messages about weddings, gender roles, and consumption in modern society disseminated by The Knot, a bridal media company that claims to be the "#1 wedding website," with brand extensions into magazines, books, and in partnership with the cable outlet Oxygen, the reality television program Real Weddings from The Knot. Analyses of The Knot's media alliances and its reality television program illustrate that as an example of political economy of the media, The Knot and its media synergy create for its female audience the image of the perfect wedding, which maintains a status quo reinforcing femininity and consumerism.