GENDER, RESISTANCE AND PLAY - BACHELORETTE PARTIES IN ATLANTIC CANADA

This article explores the multivalent messages of the bachelorette, wh ose popularity in Atlantic Canada, where the study is set, is eclipsin g other premarriage customs, such as the bridal shower. It argues that while the bachelorette may be read as a hyperbolisation and enforceme nt of a narrow conception of women's possible roles, it also can be un derstood as resistance to culturally constructed gender values. Throug h ''implicit coding'' that includes trivialization (how can something called a ''bachelorette'' be taken seriously?), appropriation of the m ale model (the stag party), juxtaposition to the shower that outfits t he bride for her role as a homemaker, and the use of humour to both di stract and subvert, the bachelorette challenges the patriarchal catego ry of ''woman.'' (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.