Amy Schumer's Mockery of Lavish Wedding Culture Is Spot On
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When someone gets engaged nowadays, you can bet that person will make it their full-time job to post about the milestone as much as possible on social media. And with the holiday season approaching, you can also expect to see a lot of engagement announcements on Facebook and Instagram in the coming weeks. That's why Amy Schumer's unaired "Inside Amy Schumer" sketch mocking engagement culture is as important and timely as ever.
In preparation for the DVD release of "Inside Amy Schumer" season three, Comedy Central gave the Huffington Post an unaired season three skit starring Schumer and "Girls" actress Jemima Kirke. The clip shows a newly engaged Schumer preparing for an engagement photo shoot with photographer Tiffany (portrayed by Kirke).
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"I do as many [engagement photo shoots] as weddings now," Tiffany says. "You know, engagement shoots are the single best way to rub your happiness in the fat townie face of every person you went to grade school with."
"Yes, that is exactly what I said," Schumer responds.
In the clip, Tiffany asks the couple to do some dramatic and over-the-top things, including telling Schumer's fiance to lift her and hold her as if she is as "light as a feather."
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Jokes aside, Schumer's skit highlights the suffocating nature of engagement and wedding culture. As ATTN: has previously noted, many get caught up in the spectacle of nuptials, and social media is significantly to blame. With more and more people making engagement videos that go viral on the web, there's a heightened pressure on men and women alike to go all out for their partner. Wedding site The Knot also found that just 57 percent of people had a private proposal in 2011, a big drop from 70 percent in 2009.
"People get so wrapped up in planning, but really it should just be something that represents you as a couple," wedding blogger Aubrey Secrest told the Eastern Iowa Gazette in February. "It shouldn’t be about looking good on social media or looking good to your friends."
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As wedding and engagement culture has swirled out of control on social media, it has also put a dent in the finances of many couples. A 2013 survey the Knot found that the average wedding costs $31,213, and a more recent Knot survey found that nearly 70 percent of brides constantly think about wedding expenses.
There's also a strong financial case to be made for keeping wedding costs low. Last year, a study conducted by two Emory University economists revealed that spending less on the ceremony often increases the couple's likelihood of staying together. The researchers found this is also true to an extent for engagement rings, which have a complicated and poorly understood history in our country.
The Emory study authors found that putting $2,000 to $4,000 towards a ring increased a man's chances of a failed marriage by nearly 1.5 times. Spending less than $500 on a ring, however, increases a woman's overall chances of divorce. A 2013 report by Jewelers of America found that the average couple spends $4,000 on an engagement ring.
Sociologist Pepper Schwartz said in a previous interview with PBS that wedding costs aren't necessarily at fault for divorces but conceded that the "wedding has become the highlight rather than the beginning of something."